annot be made safe, of course, so long as men are permitted to
contract venereal diseases, and spread them. Early marriage will greatly
lessen the chances of this; tolerated houses under _effective_ medical
supervision (such as we had in Paris during the War)[I] would enormously
lessen the chances of infection, even where marriage was delayed or
interrupted; prophylactic depots where disinfection was properly applied,
_and efficiently taught on request_, would be invaluable; but it is at
present from self-disinfection, properly understood and efficiently
applied, that the community can hope for the greatest and most immediate
gain in sexual cleanliness.[J] The following were the directions I gave
the Anzacs during the war, distributing these with prophylactics for men
and for women (the directions for women being printed in French and
English); this action was endorsed by all the leading British, American
and French military and medical authorities, from the Commanders-in-Chief
downwards, and the effort undoubtedly saved many thousands of men from
damage and ruin:--

"AVOID INFECTION.

"If you become infected with V.D., the fault is really your own.
Either do not risk infection at all, or, risking infection, take
proper precautions. These are quite simple. If you take the
following precautions _without delay_ you are very very unlikely to
contract disease:--

1. Use vaseline or some other grease (such as calomel ointment)
_beforehand_, to prevent direct contact with the source of
infection.*

(* Note: Any personal discomfort or unpleasantness grease causes is
counteracted by the woman's having douched beforehand, as should
always be done for the sake of cleanliness. A mere film of grease
is sufficient to fill up pores of the skin, cover over abrasions,
and prevent penetration of microbes, and it greatly facilitates
subsequent cleansing.)

2. Urinate _immediately_ after _each_ connection to wash away all
infective material, and to prevent the invasion of the urethra by
the microbes of V.D.

3. Wash thoroughly with soap and water, because ordinary soap is
destructive to germs--of syphilis and of gonorrhoea--and bathe
parts with weak solution of pot. permang.

You had far better carry a blue-light outfit with you as a "town
dressing," in the same way as you would carry a "field dressing."
If you