=The Truth of the Matter.= Here is the Truth about venereal disease--the truth as I know it, without concealment on the one hand and without exaggeration on the other. Exact figures are, of course, unobtainable anywhere; but results obtained from unbiased investigations of _different_ classes of society, from hospital reports, from questionnaires among students, etc., tell us that probably about twenty per cent. of the adult male population are the victims of gonorrhea at one time or another; that probably eight or ten per cent. are not entirely cured when they enter matrimony; and four or five per cent. (some would say two per cent.) of wives become infected with gonorrhea. This, I say, is terrible enough, and makes the greatest care and caution imperative; for, if you should be one of the victims of the two or five per cent., it would be little consolation to you that the other ninety-eight or ninety-five per cent. of wives have escaped. Of course the percentage of venereal disease among young men, and afterwards among their wives, will vary greatly with the stratum of society. Among the "lower" strata you may find fifty per cent. of infection, with a very large percentage of those uncured. Not because they are of a lower morality than the higher classes, but because the cheap class of prostitutes that they are obliged to patronize are frequently diseased and because they cannot afford expert treatment, or any treatment at all. Among these classes you will naturally find a much larger percentage of diseased wives. But then to counteract this we must bear in mind that there are large classes of men in whom gonorrhea exists only to the extent of five or ten per cent., and we have large classes of wives among whom the victims of gonorrhea will come up only to a fraction of one per cent. The above figures, you see, differ materially from the statements found in so many sex books that "80 per cent. of all married men in New York have gonorrhea," and that "at least three out of every five [60 per cent.!] married women in New York have gonorrhea." Whenever you read or hear such a statement treat it with a smile--or with contempt, as all false statements should be treated. As to syphilis, the extent of the prevalence may be given as between two and five per cent. Which percentage differs considerable from the 75, 50 or 25 per cent. given us by some sex lecturers, but which is terrible enough as it is, without any exaggerations. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE GONORRHEA Source of Gonorrhea--Mucous Membrane of Genital Organs and of Eye Principal Seats of Disease--Symptoms in Men and in Women--Vagina Seldom Attacked in Adults--Nobody Inherits Gonorrhea--Ophthalmia Neonatorum--Differences of Course of Disease in Men and Women-- Gonorrhea Less Painful in Women--Symptoms not Suspected by Woman-- Necessity for the Woman Consulting a Physician--Self-treatment When Woman Cannot Consult Physician--Formulae for Injections.