The Contagious Diseases Act of 1866, and its extension to the civil population of the United Kingdom / by J. Brendon Curgenven.

  • Curgenven, J. Brendon (John Brendon), 1831-1903.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Contagious Diseases Act of 1866, and its extension to the civil population of the United Kingdom / by J. Brendon Curgenven. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    suspected by the police; and, again, a woman may spread a considerable amount of disease before she is informed against Syphilis, the worst form of the disease, having a period of incubation of from three days to three weeks, or even longer, it must be difficult, and almost impossible, for any soldier or sailor to name the woman from whom he acquired that disease. It may be considered by some that the women would object to being examined, but that has not been found to be the case; they willingly submit to the provi- sion of the Act in that respect, and offer no objection to the necessarily long confinement in hospital for the cure of their disease. Mr. Berkeley Hill in his inquiries found that u the women most strenuously object to irregular, and, as it appears to them, often capricious selection of individuals, and though some were content with the present arrange- ment, the great majority declared that regular examination of every woman would be the best.” Many women apply volun- tarily for admission to the hospitals, but it happens that the milder forms of the disease and the primary symptoms of syphilis excite in the women so little inconvenience that they neglect applying for medical aid, and continue for weeks or months sources of contagion, and it often occurs that they do not seek that aid until driven by severe suffering to relinquish their wretched calling. One great obstacle to the effectual working of the Act has been the want of hospital accommodation. To take in under treatment all the women in a town that would be found diseased on examination would necessarily require a number of beds equal to about one-third the total number of women, as that is about the proportion that is found to be diseased. London, therefore, with about 10,000 common prostitutes, would require 2,500 beds; but this number might be reduced to 1,200, for it is shown by Mr. Lane that only about 40 per cent, are affected by the severer forms of the disease, and at present there are not 200 beds in London devoted to the reception of these cases. A large number of beds would be required only for the first year or two, if the Act were effectually carried out, for, by the example of Malta, the 40 or 50 beds occupied before the regulations were put in force, were reduced to one or two after the surveillance had been exercised a few months. These beds might be placed temporarily in any building adapted for the purpose, or in a hulk or in wooden huts such as the soldiers occupy at Aldershot. A third obstacle to the effectual working of the present Act is the limited number of towns that have been placed under