considering various
aspects of the problems involved.

The Committee desire to acknowledge their indebtedness to their
secretary, Mr. C.J. Drake, whose wide knowledge of public-health matters
has been of material assistance in their investigations and who has
discharged his duties with marked zeal and ability.

SECTION 2.--VENEREAL DISEASES AND THEIR EFFECTS.

One result of the Committee's investigations has been to show that the
public in general are very ignorant regarding the nature of venereal
diseases, and their lamentable effects not only upon the individuals
infected, but upon the health and well-being of the community as a
whole. This ignorance of the nature of the problem and of the grave
issues involved naturally stands in the way of the evil being grappled
with effectually. Furthermore, the policy of reticence which has
prevailed in the past, while it has led to the omission of proper
instruction of the young, either by their parents or as part of our
system of education, has not prevented the dissemination of an
incomplete or perverted knowledge of the facts relating to sex, which,
being derived as a rule from tainted sources of information, has been
productive of a great deal of evil.

In these circumstances the Committee feel it their duty, before making
known their recommendations, to state in as plain terms as possible the
medical aspects of the problem they have had to consider.

There are three forms of venereal diseases namely, syphilis, gonorrhoea,
and chancroid--and of these the first two are the common and most
serious diseases. That sporadic syphilis existed in antiquity and even
in prehistoric times is probable, but there is no doubt that the disease
was a malignant European pandemic in the closing years of the fifteenth
century. The first reference to its origin is in a work written about
the year 1510, wherein it is described as a new affection in Barcelona,
unheard of until brought from Hayti by the sailors of Columbus in 1493.
The army of Charles VIII carried the scourge through Italy, and soon
Europe was aflame. "Its enormous prevalence in modern times," says Dr.
Creighton, "dates, without doubt, from the European libertinism of the
latter part of the fifteenth century." Gonorrhoea also has its origin in
the shades of antiquity, but that it became common in Europe about 1520
is a fact based on the highest authority.

Syphilization follows civilization, and syphilis is an important f