Report from the Select Committee on the Contagious Diseases Acts : together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence and appendix.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on the Contagious Diseases Acts.
- Date:
- 1881
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report from the Select Committee on the Contagious Diseases Acts : together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence and appendix. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.
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![7 March 1881.] Dr. Drtsdale. [ Contin ucd. Mr. Fowler—coniinxxzA. syphilis, and the other should be called a soft sore ; it should have something to distinguish it, for they have nothing to do with each other. Mr. Stansfeld. 353. Then you are a dualist, as far as the unity or dualism of the venereal poison is con- cerned ?—Yes. 354. You will see in the Report of this Com- mittee, in 1879, at pao-e 137, and Question 2864, Surgeon Myers, of the Coldstream Guards, has this question put to him,— There is only one question I wish to put to you upon the character of the disease. You have stated in a most positive way that there is only one syphilitic poison; and in a subsequent answer you made the admission that medical opinion was, to say the least, divided upon that subject; do you adhere to this positive statement upon that which is simply a matter of opinion ? A. 1 think it is accepted by many of the leading men of the profession who have studied the disease ; I could mention several, but I will mention one, as he has taken a very prominent part in relation to this disease of late j'eai-s. He has actually asserted that the doctrine or idea of the duality of syphilis is dead; I refer to Mr. Jonathan Hut- chinson. Q. (2865) Have you got any quota- tions from him with you ? A. 1 have not it here, but I think you will find it in the Report of the Pathological Society's Transactions in 1876, when he broui;ht forward a discussion on syphilis before that society, at which I think all the Englishmen who had studied this disease specially gave their opinions; it was a very remarkable discussion upon the subject of syphilis. He brought for- ward, and either then or subsequently he has asserted that the doctrine of duality of syphilis is dead. I could mention several names, if you wished it, of leading men ; and I think it would be advisable to do so. He mentions the name of Sir William Fergusson. I said, Would you kindly refer me to what those persons stated ? He says, I think you will find it all stated in the discussion to which I have referred, and then he mentions certain names. I want to draw attention to those names. Mr. Myers mentions the names of certain medical men as uuicists, to use a phrase which I think he used, and those names were brought before us in a way which led me to suppose for a moment that all these gentlemen took part in the discussion, but that is not the case, is it ?—I do not think any of these gentlemen, except Mr. Hutchinson, took part in the discussion. 355. I take it you do not agree with Surgeon Myers in his statement that belief in dualism is practically dead?—I think the other opinion is entirely dead. 356. In your opinion the unicist theory has very nearly died out, and the general opinion, with the exception of Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson, is the dualistic?—I think all men of note, with the exception of Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson, entertain that view. 357. Let me take the list of eminent men men- tioned by Surgeon Myers. He begins with Sir William Fergusson. He is no longer living ?—No. 358. Mr. Syme ?—He had been dead a long time. 0.44. Mr. Stansfeld—continued. _ 359. Dr. Acton?—He had been dead a short time. 360. Mr. Holmes Coote ?—He has been dead five or six yeai-s. 361. Was Mr. Holmes Coote a member of the Royal Commission ?—Yes. 362. Is it within your knowledge that the result of the evidence taken before the Royal Commission on his mind was such that he subse- quently became a member of the Committee for Promoting the Abolition of the Contagious Dis- eases Acts ?—Yes, I remember it. He was surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. 363. And he became a member of the com- mittee of the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts ?—He did. 364. Then there was Mr. Busk ; is he still living ? — I really do not know. 365. Mr. Samuel Lane?—I think he is dead. 366. Mr. Grascoyne ?—He is dead. 367. Mr. >olly ?—He has been dead for a long time. 368. Then I find in that list the names of Mr. Longmore and Mr. Spencer Wells. Is it clear that those gentlemen were unicists ? —I think they were dualists, as far as their expressions go. 369. Can you refer to any statement of their views upon that subject ?—Mr. Spencer Wells, in the Report of the Committee appointed in 1864, in reply to Question 1326, says this, I am not aware of any syphilitic sore that does not affect the constitution. I have been in the habit of observing three classes, the soft, the decidedly hard sore, which I would class among sores with thickening, scarcely amounting to induration; and the simple sore, which does not produce any constitutional disturbance at all. Mr. Osborne Morgan. 370. Would you adopt that classification your- self?—No; I only adopt the soft sore and the hard sore. Mr. Stansfeld. 371. The point of my question is this,—Mr. Spencer Wells was cited by Surgeon J\lyers as being a unicist, and you cite those answers to prove him a dualist; now we come to .Mr. Long- more ?—I have here a quotation from Mr. Long- more, Professor of Military Surgery at the Army Medical School at Netley. He says, be- fore the Venereal Commission, My opinion very strongly is, that the term ' syphilis ' should be restricted entirely to those sores which are followed by secondary symjjtoms. 372. And you infer from that statement that he believes in the existence of sores which are not followed by secondary symptoms, and which are, therefore, not syphylitic?—Yes. 373. Therefore, in the list of names quoted by Surgeon Myers, I understand you find the large proportion of the names of eminent men are names of persons who are dead, and the two names, Mr. Longmore and Mr. Spencer Wells, as you think, are inaccurately quoted ?—I do. 374. At the time that these eminent men lived and expressed these opinions, was there any man considered to be the most eminent au- C 2 thority](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21230377_0043.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
