A treatise on the venereal disease.

In Hunter's day venereal diseases were thought to be due to a single poison. To test this theory Hunter experimented with matter taken from a gonorrhoeal patient who, unknown to Hunter, also had syphilis. Hunter maintained that gonorrhoea and syphilis were caused by a single pathogen. Backed by the weight of his authority, this experiment retarded the development of knowledge regarding the two diseases. Contrary to legend, however, there is no proof that Hunter actually inoculated himself with venereal disease. The hard (“Hunterian”) chancre eponymizes Hunter; his book also contains the first suggestion of lymphogranuloma venereum as a separate disease, and this work also makes a major contribution to urological surgery. Hunter issued this book at his private press at his anatomy school, the address for which he provided on the title page. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.