The state of the male venereal patients proves the same general amelioration in the character of the disease. The cases, however, are worse than among the registered women, which must be ascribed to the dislike of men to enter the hospital until such a course becomes unavoidable. The numbers received were, in
| 1843 | 355 | |
| 1844 | 335 | |
| 1845 | 316 |
Some returns are given by Dr. Lippert of the amount of sickness in the garrison; but he has not stated the number of soldiers, so no comparison can be drawn from his information. The figures are as follows:
| 1843, | Gonorrhœa | 90 | ||
| Chancre | 67 | |||
| Secondary syphilis | 13 | —170 | ||
| 1844, | Gonorrhœa | 58 | ||
| Ulcers | 63 | —121 | ||
| 1845, | Gonorrhœa | 89 | ||
| Ulcers | 79 | —168 |
The treatment of syphilis adopted in the Hamburg hospital was introduced by Dr. Fricke, one of the first to apply the non-mercurial system. Ricord’s practice is also followed, and Hydropathy has been tried. It would be out of place to enter into any arguments here as to the relative merits of these systems.
The mortal diseases of the Hamburg prostitutes are incidental to their course of life. Exposure to the weather, alternate extremes of want and luxury, night-watching and constant excitement, induce consumption, inflammation of the lungs, dropsy, internal and abdominal complaints; gastric, rheumatic, or nervous fevers; and these, or chronic diseases resulting from renewed venereal infection, lead to the
“Last scene of all,
That ends this strange, eventful history.”
Before dismissing this subject, we will give a sketch of the
HAMBURG MAGDALEN HOSPITAL.
This institution was founded in 1821 through the exertions of the Burgomaster Abendroth and others, and was constructed on the model of a similar asylum in London. The object is to reclaim women from vice by means that can be applied only in a place expressly dedicated to the purpose.