Statement of the grounds upon which the Contagious Diseases Acts are opposed / Addressed to ... R. A. Cross ... Secretary of State for the Home Department, and to ... G. Hardy ... Secretary of State for War, by J. B. Nevins.
- Nevins, J. Birkbeck (John Birkbeck), 1818-1903.
- Date:
- 1875
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Statement of the grounds upon which the Contagious Diseases Acts are opposed / Addressed to ... R. A. Cross ... Secretary of State for the Home Department, and to ... G. Hardy ... Secretary of State for War, by J. B. Nevins. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![the Acts, subsequently to the application of these Acts the reduction, he says, lias been less; but hi has nowhere shown us that where the Acts had not been in force any reduction had takyn place. We are met constantly with the statement that, because before the introduction of the Act then; was a reduction at stations which subsequently came under it, that reduction should have gone on in- definitely. Now. sir, if we take the course of disease from 1800 onwards, we find that it diminished in frequency—I allude to primary venereal sores—from 1860 to 1866. From that period in all those stations not under the Act, the venereal sores increased,- they went on fluctuating, but still increased in 1SGT. There was a slight diminution in the following year, a considerable increase in 1869. a slight diminution again in 1870, a very marked one in 1S71, and in 1872 a very marked increase. We may naturally assume that, if the disease had increased in such a large number of stations, it would have done so in the other four-teen, provided they had not had the Apt applied, to them. We can detect in the fourteen under the Act a very slight fluctuation only. [The speaker referred to diagrams which were hung on the wall.] Here is a diagram, for instance, which shows the disease fell from 1864 to 1866, when it rose again. This is in the stations not under the Act. A very large rise to 1869; it then fell to tliis mark [pointing] in 1871 ; and in 1872 it rose again, as you see here. Now, in marry of the illustrations of Dr. Nevins, lie compares the minimum oj 1S66 with themaximum 0/1S72. / need not say that that is no comparison as to the gemral prevalence of the disease. It does not afford sufficient data to base a conclusion upon. Another point that Dr. Nevins has referred to is the variations between different stations. Now, he may not be aware, and I dare say many here may not be aware, that the variations at the same station at the same time between regiments in contiguous barracks are sometimes really g;eater than any he has pointed out. At one period at Aldershot I had occasion to look into the question there connected with one regiment, and to make sure of the fact as to that regiment I extended it to other regiments. Those who have been at Aldershot may recollect a row of brick buildings, composing the three infantry blocks and the artillery barracks ; there was an infantry regiment in each of these blocks, and, for reasons I need not state now, it became my business to examine the course of disease in these three sets of buildings. There was one regiment hi the middle barrack, that, in the course of forty-four consecutive weeks, had an admission-rate of 42 5 per 1,000, per annum, The next one to them on one side had an admission-rate of 84 per 1,000, or nearly double. The next one to them on the other side had an admission-rate of 124 per 1,000, or nearly three times the first one. This took place at the same station, at the same time, under the same exposure. To see whether the same thing prevailed elsewhere, I took three regiments in the North Camp. They were the oidy regiments there for some time. I found that in one of these, hi not quite such a long period (thirty weeks—which, however, is a considerable period), the admission-rate for primary sores, the annual rate, was 23 per 1,000. The next regiment was 59 per 1,000, and the next regiment was 114 per 1,000. All these things took place at the same time and place. And if you compare these numbers together, you find a degree of variation greater than anything Dr. Nevins has mentioned. Now, the points we have to arrive at from these facts aro, that there are circumstances connected with these irregular manifestations of the disease that we are not yet fairly acquainted with ; and that we must not attach much weight to the results obtained from small bodies of men, but must deal with large masses, or the observations must be extended over several years, so that deviations from the mean in one direction, among some, may be neutralised as far as possible by deviations in the opposite among others, bo as to get the mean to enable us to come to a right conclusion. Many comparisons we have heard to-night have been based on two years. Tliey have taken the year 1866 against 1872— that is, showing you a year of minimum against a year oj maximum. The whole deductions drawn from that, without reference to the moan of the intervening period, are delusive. Dr. Nevins has referred to the slate of secondary syphilis, and he has told you that the secondary syphilis has been gnater latterly than it was formerly, before the Act was in force. Now, I am sorry to say—and I take my stand on medical returns—that J come to a different conclusion. But I may have met with points that did not occur to him. There has been a change of nomenclature, and the full significance of that he is perhaps not aware of. In former years—that is, beforo 1869—secondary syphilis was returned in the army under three heads—1st, secondary syphilis ; 2nd, syphilitic cachexia ; and 3rd, syphilitic iritis and I rather think that in taking out the numbers the latter two have been altogether omitted. Again, it is important to deal with those for soveral years, so as to arrive at a mean. Now, J have taken out all the cases of secondary syphilis from the Army Returns from 1860 to 1864—the number of men was 374,000, or 75,000 a year for these years. They amount to 34 per 1,000 per annum. From 1868 to 1872—the period whon the Act* were fairly in operation—there were 3S0.OOO men, or 76,000 a](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21454905_0006.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
