There is one other minor disease belonging to the venereal diseases; that is chancroids. Chancroids are little ulcers on the genitals; they are purely local and do not affect the system. They are due largely to uncleanliness, and are found only among the poorer classes of prostitutes and therefore among the poorer classes of men. One sees them now and then in public dispensaries, but in private practice they are now quite rare. They used to be quite common, which shows that the general level of cleanliness has been raised considerably among all classes of people. At any rate, chancroids are of little significance, as compared with syphilis and gonorrhea, and when speaking of the venereal peril, these are the two diseases we have in mind. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX THE CURABILITY OF VENEREAL DISEASE Gonorrhea May Be Practically Cured in Every Case in Man--Extensive Gonorrheal Infection in Woman Difficult to Cure--Positive Cure in Syphilis Impossible to Guarantee. Just as the usual statements in regard to the extent of venereal disease have been found untrue or greatly exaggerated, so do the statements regarding the curability or rather incurability of venereal disease need careful revision. The picture usually painted of the hopelessness of gonorrhea and syphilis is too sombre, too black, and, contrary to the assertions made by laymen and laywomen and physicians who do not specialize in the treatment of venereal disease, I wish to make the statement that every case of gonorrhea in man, without any exception, if properly treated, can be perfectly cured, _as far as practical purposes are concerned_. I add the last phrase because the cure may not be perfect in the scientific sense of the word; that is, the man may not be brought back into the condition in which he was before he got the disease. But, for all practical purposes, as far as he himself is concerned, as far as his wife is concerned, and as far as the future children are concerned, every case may be cured, without any doubt. And I say this, basing myself upon a varied professional experience extending over nearly a quarter of a century. As to gonorrhea in women, that depends to a great extent upon the virulence of the disease and the promptness with which treatment is instituted. If the gonorrhea is limited only to the cervix, the vulva and the urethra, then prompt treatment will usually bring about a cure in a comparatively short time. But if the gonorrheal inflammation has extended to the body of the uterus, or still worse, to the tubes, then the treatment may become a very tedious one, and some cases may not be curable without an operation.