by them. The patient who is determined,
therefore, to do the best thing by himself will take rubs
conscientiously as long as his physician wishes him to do so, even
though it means, as it usually does, not a dozen or two, but several
hundreds of them, extending over a period of two or three years, and
given at the rate of four to six rubs a week.

The giving of mercury by injections is a very powerful method of using
the drug for the cure of syphilis. It reduces the inconvenience of
effective treatment to a minimum and has all the other advantages of
secrecy and convenience. It keeps the patient, moreover, in close touch
with his physician and under careful observation. Injections by some
methods are given daily, by others once or twice a week. The main
disadvantage is the discomfort which follows each injection for a few
hours. For any one who has one of the serious complications of
syphilis, injections may be a life and death necessity. Mercurial
injections are a difficult form of treatment and should be given only by
experts and physicians who are thoroughly familiar with their use.

Like every important drug in medicine, mercury is a poison if it is
abused. Its earliest effect is on the mouth and teeth, and for that
reason the physician, in treating syphilis by vigorous methods, has his
patients give special attention to the care of their mouths and teeth
and of their digestions as well. Mercury also affects the kidneys and
the blood, if not properly given, and for that reason the person who is
taking it must be under the care and observation of a physician from
time to time. Only the ignorant undertake to treat themselves for
syphilis, though how many of these there are can be inferred from the
amount of patent medicine and quack treatment there is in these fields.
Properly given, mercury has no harmful effects, and there is no ground
whatever for the notion some people have, that mercury will do them more
harm than a syphilitic infection. Improperly used, either as too much or
too little, it is capable of doing great harm, not only directly, but
indirectly, by making it impossible later for the patient to take enough
to cure the disease. The extent to which some overconfident persons fail
in their efforts to treat and cure themselves explains the necessity for
such a warning.

+Effect of Mercurial Treatment on the Blood Test.+--The effect of
mercury on the Wassermann blood test for syphilis should also be
gener