LONDON: Published under the Superintendence of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, AND SOLD BY HARRISON & SONS, 59, PALL MALL. W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE. 1867. 157. p. 27. LETTER FROM REAR-ADMIRAL THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD. Sir, TO F. C. SKEY, ESQ., CHAIRMAN OF THE COMM ADMIRALTY, Admiralty, 13th October, 1864. Committee. I AM commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Appointment Admiralty to acquaint you that the Secretary of State for War of the and the Board of Admiralty, with the view to diminishing the injurious effects of the Venereal Disease on the men of the Army and Navy, have decided on 'instituting a Committee to enquire into the best mode of treatment of the disease. It is to be hoped that much good, not only to the two services, but also to the profession generally and the public at large, may result from a careful and dispassionate consideration of the question. The Secretary of State for War and the Board of Admiralty hope that you will be able to secure the attendance as witnesses, of such medical men as, from their experience and attainments, it may be most desirable to examine. They feel sure that you will meet with every assistance from the members of a learned and liberal profession. They would suggest for the consideration of the Committee; the importance of obtaining the advantage of the experience and learning of their brethren in several of the capitals of Europe. For this purpose it might be desirable to depute one or more of their members to enquire and report on the treatment adopted in the best hospitals, Civil and Military, abroad. Their Lordships have been informed that, there is no ques tion in Medicine and Pathology in which there is so great a diversity of opinion amongst medical men of the greatest eminence. They are, therefore, anxious that the consideration of the Committee should mainly be directed to discover a sound principle of treatment of the disease known under the name of Syphilis. They are desirous that the question of the Pathology of the disease, should be considered by the Committee only to such an extent as they may deem absolutely necessary to enable them to deal with the main object of the enquiry,— namely, the attainment of a sound rule of treatment. It is their Lordships' wish particularly to draw the attention of the Committee to the subject of the treatment of Syphilis by mercury, and, with the concurrence of the Committee, they would propose the following subjects for their discussion: 1. Whether mercury is an agent to be indiscriminately resorted to in treatment of Syphilis. 2. The proportion and nature of the cases in which its administration is useful or necessary. 3. The proportion and nature of the cases, if any, of primary and secondary disease, in which it may be entirely dispensed with; characterising the forms of disease, if any, in the treatment of which mercurial agency is not required. 4. The best antidotes to injurious mercurial action on the human system. 5. Any practical rules which the Committee can suggest to the Naval and Military authorities to diminish the frequency of the cases of contagion, and which are capable of adoption in the daily life of the ship or barrack. I am, Sir, Your most obedient Servant, C. PAGET. F. C. Skey, Esq. The Committee as originally selected by the Chairman, and approved by the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for War, consisted of MR. SKEY (Chairman), MR. COCK, DR. KIRKES, MR. QUAIN, MR. SPENCER SMITH (Secretary), DR. WILKS, with DR. T. GRAHAM BALFOUR (appointed to represent the Army Medical Board), and DR. DONNET (to represent the Naval Medical Board); on the lamented death of DR. KIRKES, the vacancy was filled by the appointment of DR. BABINGTON, whose loss the Committee had also great occasion to deplore. REPORT. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE Committee appointed to enquire into the best mode of Report. treatment of the Venereal Disease, with a view to diminish its injurious effects on the men of the Army and Navy, have the honour to submit the following Report: The evidence appended shows that the Committee have derived information from very varied sources. Sixty-four witnesses of experience in different branches of the subject under enquiry appeared before them. Fifty-six members of the medical profession engaged in civil practice and in the medical departments of the Navy and Army readily gave in evidence the valuable results of their experience upon the nature and treatment of the disease. That part of the Report which relates to the prevention of venereal disease, having been required for the use of the Legislature, was forwarded to the authorities in February, 1866, and an Act, entitled "An Act for the better Prevention of Contagious Diseases at certain Naval and Military Stations," 11th June, 1866, was passed in the last session of Parliament, in entire accordance with the recommendations of your Committee. A copy of that Act is appended to this Report. On the subject of prevention, the Committee have no further suggestions to offer; but they would at the present moment, when the attention of Parliament is drawn to the subject of better legislation for the mercantile marine, respectfully call attention to the concluding passage of that Report, referring to "the fertile source of disease in our sea-port towns afforded by the sailors of the merchant service." At one of the earliest meetings of the Committee, printed pamphlets, addressed to the Ministers at the head of the War Office and the Admiralty, entitled "Proofs of the Non-Existence of a Specific Enthetic Disease," and "A Letter to His Grace the Duke of Somerset, First Lord of the Admiralty, relative to the ques |