Nature has devised a retribution for illicit intercourse in the form of venereal disease. If the parties observe fidelity to the marriage vows venereal disease is experienced in wedlock only on very rare occasions, and then through some accidental infection, as from contact with some public utensils, as a public water closet, a public towel or drinking cup. So rare is this unfortunate accident, however, that we may say, that intercourse in undefiled wedlock results normally in pleasure and gratification to both parties, while intercourse out of wedlock, or illicit intercourse, is destined, as a rule, to be visited with retribution. What form does this retribution that nature metes out to the vice of illicit intercourse take? Besides the various psychic punishments, the principal of which are remorse, and impure thoughts, there are physical punishments in the form of venereal diseases. So prevalent are these venereal diseases among lewd women, whether prostitutes or clandestines, that specialists in this field say that "_all lewd women are diseased part of the time and some lewd women are diseased all the time_." These sexual diseases are contagious--that is, transmitted by contact. They are all germ diseases; one of them is practically local, one is capable of spreading the infection to contiguous organs and one is systemic. a. =Chancroid or Soft Chancre.=--This is the least dangerous of the venereal diseases. It is a contagious disease of purely local type, usually acquired during the sexual act, the infection taking place through a break in the continuity of the mucous membrane. Chancroid may be single, though most often is multiple. It makes its appearance in from one to five days after exposure, anywhere on the penis, but most frequently on the under side of the glans beside the frænulum as a small red spot. This rapidly takes the form of a blister containing serum and pus, and in a few days may become the size of a ten-cent piece. When the roof is removed the ulcer has the appearance of having been punched out, the floor being covered with pus. It is surrounded by a zone of inflammation and is painful. If uncomplicated the disease runs its course in from two to five weeks. The most common complication is swollen and suppurating glands of the groin on one or both sides. This condition is termed _bubo_ or "blue ball" in common language. Sometimes serious complications arise which may prove dangerous and require the individual to be confined to his bed for weeks. b. =Gonorrhea.=--This is incomparably more serious than chancroid. This disease is very prevalent among the incontinent, and it is claimed by some specialists in this field that from sixty to seventy-five per cent. of men have had gonorrhea before the age of thirty. It is a contagious disease, acquired usually during intercourse, though the individual may become infected innocently from water closets, bath tubs, etc.