IV
a 3

Preface.

With the two volumes that I now present to the public, I bring to a close my treatiseAbhandlung on the venereal diseasevenerische Krankheit. It is a work which, despite the time devoted to it, still does not possess the degree of perfection that I wished to give it. In the meantime, I rely on the fairness and indulgence of my readers, and I hope that they will—while perhaps not overlooking—at least excuse the flaws and imperfections in a book which has been prepared according to a plan as comprehensive as the present one.

The first volume was the fruit of my own reflection, and of my own observations and experiences; these two volumes, on the other hand, are the result of my scholarly readingLecture The author uses "Lecture" in the sense of a comprehensive survey of existing literature rather than a spoken presentation.. They contain a catalogue and critical extracts from all the writings which have been written concerning the venereal plagueLustseuche The German term "Lustseuche," literally "pleasure-plague," was a common 18th-century name for syphilis., and the subjects most closely related to it. The content of each—