#The Contagiousness of Inherited Syphilis.#—­In 1837, Colles of Dublin stated his belief that, while a syphilitic infant may convey the disease to a healthy wet nurse, it is incapable of infecting its own mother if nursed by her, even although she may never have shown symptoms of the disease.  This doctrine, which is known as Colles’ law, is generally accepted in spite of the alleged occurrence of occasional exceptions.  The older the child, the less risk there is of its communicating the disease to others, until eventually the tendency dies out altogether, as it does in the tertiary period of acquired syphilis.  It should be added, however, that the contagiousness of inherited syphilis is denied by some observers, who affirm that, when syphilitic infants prove infective, the disease has been really acquired at or soon after birth.

There is general agreement that the subjects of inherited syphilis cannot transmit the disease by inheritance to their offspring, and that, although they very rarely acquire the disease de novo, it is possible for them to do so.

#Prognosis of Inherited Syphilis.#—­Although inherited syphilis is responsible for a large but apparently diminishing mortality in infancy, the subjects of this disease may grow up to be as strong and healthy as their neighbours.  Hutchinson insisted on the fact that there is little bad health in the general community that can be attributed to inherited syphilis.

#Treatment.#—­Arsenical injections are as beneficial in the inherited as in the acquired disease.  An infant the subject of inherited syphilis should, if possible, be nursed by its mother, and failing this it should be fed by hand.  In infants at the breast, the drug may be given to the mother; in others, it is administered in the same manner as already described—­only in smaller doses.  On the first appearance of syphilitic manifestations it should be given 0.05 grm, novarsenbillon, injected into the deep subcutaneous tissues every week for six weeks, followed by one year’s mercurial inunction—­a piece of mercurial ointment the size of a pea being inserted under the infant’s binder.  In older children the dose is proportionately increased.  The general health should be improved in every possible direction; considerable benefit may be derived from the use of cod-liver oil, and from preparations containing iron and calcium.  Surgical interference may be required in the destructive gummatous lesions of the nose, throat, larynx, and bones, either with the object of arresting the spread of the disease, or of removing or alleviating the resulting deformities.  In children suffering from keratitis, the eyes should be protected from the light by smoked or coloured glasses, and the pupils should be dilated with atropin from time to time, especially in cases complicated with iritis.