Who Shall Come Under the Control of the Act.

I may at once state that there are many women whose lives are immoral, whom it will be impossible—perhaps even undesirable—to bring within the provisions of the Act, on account of the secrecy and reserve with which they pursue their calling.

Many of these women are doubtless diseased, but the very secrecy which places them beyond the reach of legislation, at the same time limits their sphere of mischief, and the men infected by them, are for the most part able to obtain prompt and efficient medical advice, so that the mischief caused by such women as, these, is comparatively slight. The lower we descend in the social scale, the more mischievous does syphilis become,^* for it is among the poorer classes that neglect of the disease, inability to obtain proper medical treatment, and feeble constitutions, are at present most frequently met with.