THE INTRAVENOUS ADMINISTRATION OF MERCURY IN SYPHILIS

This method was first used by Bacelli in 1893, and subsequently by Blaschko, Lewin, Chopping, Lane, Abadie, Campana, and Stoukowwenkoff and others. The method in recent years has apparently fallen into disuse, very few articles on the subject being found in the literature. This may be due to the rather discouraging attitude of Fournier, who looked on the method with disfavor. He is under the impression that a toxic agent, such as mercury, suddenly placed in contact with the endometrium, may possibly exert a deleterious effect on it. His supposition is based on the experiments of Ullman. While Ullman has never seen an animal die after the intravenous injection of large doses of mercury, yet in a few cases in which death occurred later, there were no lesions which would account for the death of the animal, and Fournier reasons that death might have been caused by paralysis of the