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, gonorrhœa,
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." Gonorrhœa 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 factor
in the extermination of aboriginal races. Syphilis was introduced into
Uganda when that country was opened to trade with the coast, and Colonel
Lambkin reported that "In some districts 90 per cent. suffer from it....
Owing to the presence of syphilis the entire population stands a good
chance of being exterminated in a very few years, or left a degenerate