The" abortive" treatment referred to in this report consisted of 900, 000 units of calcium penicillin in oil-wax and 3 cc. of bismuth ethylcamphorate (120 mgm. of bismuth metal) with or without 0.05 or 0.06 gm. of arsenoxide given at one clinic visit; as the last named appeared to make no appreciable difference the two schedules are considered as one. Those treated included persons who had been exposed recently to dark-ground positive primary and secondary syphilis; this was confirmed by cross-interrogation of the patient and named individuals.

Of a total of 256 persons who were treated for" exposure" 13 subsequently developed early syphilis one each in the second, third, tenth and eleventh months, two each in the seventh, fourteenth and twenty-third months, and three in the fourth month; all these are shown in a table as" reinfections" on the grounds that" all evidence, clinical, epidemiologic, and the response which these thirteen patients (fourteen infections) showed to re-treatment with abortive treatment supports the diagnosis of reinfection": full details are given in a table; three had seronegative primary, seven had seropositive primary and three had secondary syphilis; all received a second course of abortive treatment; ten became negative, two showed a reduced serum titre and one was lost. Of those patients [number not stated] who returned one week after receiving abortive treatment, 10.2 per cent. showed a" provocative" effect, viz., conversion of a negative serum test to doubtful or positive. Of two control groups of 161 and 202 persons respectively who had been exposed to infectious syphilis but did not have abortive treatment, 62.1 and 59.9 per cent. respectively developed syphilis; it made no difference whether they had been exposed to primary or secondary syphilis.