Results of the Germano-Russian Syphilis Expedition
Among all competent investigators in the field of syphilis, there is common agreement that the remarkable decline of this terrible scourge in all civilized countries is due chiefly to arsphenamine, which, if properly administered, renders the patient at once incapable of infecting others and thus reduces most decidedly the number of foci of the disease. This obvious benefit derived from arsphenamine, which can scarcely be overestimated, was, however, questioned by a small group of physicians, who raised the common objection that the therapeutic effect of arsphenamine is only apparent and is, furthermore, bought at too dear a price, because sooner or later paralysis or tabes will develop. In support of this view, it was maintained that among primitive peoples, who leave syphilis untreated, these two sequels of syphilis never occur.This statement was of course water on the wheel for the charlatans and was