In order to show this in another way, studies[[52]] were made in our clinic in which the waste (total deaths to total pregnancies) occurring in 100 families in which we were treating children with contagious disease, and in 100 families selected at random from our records, were contrasted with the waste in 100 syphilitic families. These groups are designated as C. R. and S. respectively and the data briefly summarized in the following table:
[52]. Jeans and Butler, Hereditary Syphilis as a Social Problem, Am. Jour. Dis. Child., 1914, viii, 327.
| Group | Total pregnancies | Deaths before birth | Born living now dead | Total | Per cent. waste |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. | 444 | 46 | 70 | 116 | 26 |
| R. | 442 | 42 | 59 | 101 | 22 |
| S. | 453 | 116 | 104 | 220 | 48 |
The increase in the waste for the syphilitic group of 100 per cent. does not represent the total waste, as it is fair to assume that three-quarters of the living children are syphilitic and many of these defective.
Syphilis. None of the causes supposed to be potent causes of feeble-mindedness is so difficult of investigation, so enigmatical as Syphilis. Not only in the popular mind but in the professional thought, it is given a prominent place, yet of all the causes there is perhaps none for which there is less evidence. This does not necessarily mean it is not a cause, but simply that it is not proved. The terrible nature of the disease, the serious results that it is known to produce, such as miscarriage, deaths in infancy, general paralysis of the insane, the fact that it is one of the two diseases that can be transmitted from the mother to the child because the germs can pass through the chorion cells, the fact of its close connection with sexual immorality, all tend to render it in the minds of most people a horror of which anything can be believed. It is well understood by the medical profession that a mating which shows, first a number of miscarriages followed by deaths in infancy, and finally live offspring, is a picture that means syphilis in one or both of the parents almost without question. In conclusion, there is abundant evidence that syphilis produces miscarriages and early death.
It is claimed that syphilis is responsible for 42 per cent. of abortions and miscarriages, the remaining 58 per cent. embracing all cases of whatever character, artificial or otherwise.
SYPHILIS IN THE OFFSPRING OF SYPHILITIC PARENTS
FAMILIAL SYPHILIS. By P. C. Jeans, M.D., “American Journal of Diseases of Children.” January, 1916. Vol. XI. pp. 11–19.
As the result of syphilis numerous families remain sterile. The figures for sterility vary from 10 per cent. to 30 per cent., depending on the material studied. When there is an embryo there is a variety of fates to which it may come. Many marriages result only in abortions (nearly 13 per cent. in Haskell’s material[[53]]). Since the starting point in our material was a syphilitic child, we have no data bearing on this phase.
[53]. Haskell: Jour. Am. Med. Assn., 1915, lxiv, 890.