The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical AntiquityRosenbaum, Julius
History
The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical Antiquity
Rosenbaum, Julius
Sexually transmitted diseases -- History
When I shall publish this Second Part, if ever, will depend first
on the reception of the preceding volume; secondly on whether
more favourable external conditions provide the leisure that is
indispensably necessary for Historical investigations of the sort, and
at the same time put at my disposal a more complete literary apparatus
than has hitherto been the case. For historico-medical studies in
general there exists hardly a more unfavourable[1] place than Halle;
and this is specially and peculiarly so with regard to epidemic
diseases. As far as Venereal Disease is concerned the whole literary
wealth of our University Library amounts to something like ten or
twelve Works, half of which are all but worthless. I myself shrank from
no expense to obtain possession of the literary helps required, and
my collections, particularly on the subject of Epidemics, might boast
of being not inferior to those of any private individual; yet they
are quite insufficient for my purpose, so much, especially from the
earlier Centuries, being no longer procurable by way of purchase.
But when all that is extant in writing is procured, the business is
still far from being done. I am still in want of quite a formidable
array of facts that can only be the fruit of observations in more
recent times. For this reason may I appeal to my elder professional
brethren, and above all to the different medical Unions and
Associations at home and abroad with the request that they will,
whether directly or indirectly, help me to the possession of the facts
in question. Such are in particular facts concerning the influence of
the _Genius Epidemicus_ on the different forms or Venereal Disease,
and first and foremost it behoves me to learn—_what influence Typhus
manifested during the first fifteen years of this Century, particularly
since 1811, in different Countries_. That such an influence, and a
disastrous one, _did_ take place is evidenced not only by the 364
pp. of collected Authorities, but also by the data of the brilliant
SACHS in his “Concise Dictionary of Practical Therapeutics”, II. Pt.
1. (Article: Guajac) p. 637. To my sorrow I have only just, since
the appearance of the Index to that valuable Work, become acquainted
with these data, which appealed to me all the more from the fact that
throughout they corroborate the results reached by myself in the
historical sphere.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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