A lecture on syphilis : delivered at Guy's Hospital, January 11, 1867 / by Samuel Wilks.

  • Wilks, Samuel, Sir, 1824-1911.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A lecture on syphilis : delivered at Guy's Hospital, January 11, 1867 / by Samuel Wilks. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    the chancre, and the neighbouring glands arc involved; but we know that this is by no means necessarily the case; that soldiers and sailors (and this is the experience of all medical men) will occasionally draw attention to secondary symp- toms who exhibit no evidence of a local sore, or, perhaps, merely a cicatrix or a papule, but attended generally with indurated inguinal glands. Such cases do occur, I say, but they are exceptional. In corroboration of some of these views, not drawn from books, but from the mouths of living witnesses, it was said by Dr. Beith that the virus might enter through the cuticle without abrasion; Dr. Blenkins, of the Guards, believed the virus might be absorbed by the follicles. Dr. Frazer, who had had a very large experience in India, had seen sores heal at once; or, perhaps, there was a mere scratch, which healed immediately, but was followed by the usual secondaries. In cases which followed supposed gonorrhoea, he believed there was a crack or sore which had been healed. It was for this reason that he relied more on the induration of the glands as a diagnostic mark than upon the character of the chancre. Mr. Samuel Lane, also, had seen the constitutional affection where the only local sign of disease was a little excoriation, aud which, healing up in a few days, left no sore and no induration. This would be somewhat analogous to the case of hydrophobia succeeding to the bite of a dog which was little more than a scratch, and which had soon healed. Now, I have first mentioned these facts to show that the virus of syphilis may be introduced into the system through the most trifling abrasion, and leaving at the spot no trace behind.* Such cases, however, are exceptional, since the in- duration is generally observed at the point of introduction of the virus, and which condition is intimately related to the further development of the disease. The great peculiarity of the syphilitic process is seen in this disposition to the produc- tion of lymph or fibro-plastic material, which may, in extreme cases of disease, as we shall presently see, find a nidus wher- ever connective tissue naturally exists—that is, in every part of the body. The first indication of this is seen in the * When at one time syphilis prevailed in certain religious houses, and it was accounted for by propagation through the air, the statement was received with deserved ridicule; but it should be remembered that there is no a priori absurdity in the assertion. I have never seen typhoid fever taken by contagion; but I do not deny the possibility, especially when attempted to be proved by facts.