Syphilis
In Ancient and Prehistoric Times, Vol. 1 of 3
by F. Buret
http://www.forgottenbooks.com/books/Syphilis_To-Day_and_Among_the_Ancients_v1_1000290037
Our object in writing this book has been to spare the reader a herculean task. It is hardly possible, in fact, no matter how willing one may be, to wade through a couple of thousand volumes, merely for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the history of a disease. Syphilis, since it must be called by its name, is one of those affections which interests everybody: in the first place, those who have it, a very appreciative audience; and then those who are not affected by it; that is to say, those who run the risk of acquiring it. Do not protest; when you will have read this medico-literary study, if, perchance, jou. have the courage to go on to the end, you will not dare affirm that you will always be unscathed, for evil, like good, comes upon us while we sleep. When we contemplate the interminable list of authors who have written upon this disease since the great epidemic of the fifteenth centur, and the divergence in their opinions upon the origin and nature of it, one is, in a manner, dazed, and it is difficult to determine where to begin. It would certainly have been more convenient for us to have first read modern authors, several of whom, such as Hunter, Ricord, Alfred Fournier, Lancereaux, Mauriac, Rollet, and others, have described Syphilis in a masterly manner.
Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.