The mercury rub or inunction, under ideal conditions, all things considered, is the best method of administering mercury to a patient with the hope of securing a permanent result.  In this form of treatment the mercury made up with a salve is rubbed into the skin.  The effectiveness of the mercurial rub is reduced considerably by its obvious disadvantages.  It requires time to do the rubbing, and the ointment used seems uncleanly because of its color and because it is necessary to leave what is not rubbed in on the skin so that it discolors the underwear.  The mercurial rub is at its best when it is given by some one else, since few patients have the needed combination of conscientiousness, energy, and determination to carry through a long course.  The advantages of the method properly carried out cannot be overestimated.  It is entirely possible in a given case of syphilis to accomplish by a sufficient number of inunctions everything that mercury can accomplish, and with the least possible damage to the body.  Treatment by mouth cannot compare with inunctions and cannot be made to replace them, when the only objection to the rubs is the patient’s unwillingness to be bothered by them.  The patient who is determined, therefore, to do the best thing by himself will take rubs conscientiously as long as his physician wishes him to do so, even though it means, as it usually does, not a dozen or two, but several hundreds of them, extending over a period of two or three years, and given at the rate of four to six rubs a week.

The giving of mercury by injections is a very powerful method of using the drug for the cure of syphilis.  It reduces the inconvenience of effective treatment to a minimum and has all the other advantages of secrecy and convenience.  It keeps the patient, moreover, in close touch with his physician and under careful observation.  Injections by some methods are given daily, by others once or twice a week.  The main disadvantage is the discomfort which follows each injection for a few hours.  For any one who has one of the serious complications of syphilis, injections may be a life and death necessity.  Mercurial injections are a difficult form of treatment and should be given only by experts and physicians who are thoroughly familiar with their use.

Like every important drug in medicine, mercury is a poison if it is abused.  Its earliest effect is on the mouth and teeth, and for that reason the physician, in treating syphilis by vigorous methods, has his patients give special attention to the care of their mouths and teeth and of their digestions as well.  Mercury also affects the kidneys and the blood, if not properly given, and for that reason the person who is taking it must be under the care and observation of a physician from time to time.  Only the ignorant undertake to treat themselves for syphilis, though how many of these there are can be inferred from the amount of patent medicine and quack treatment there is in these fields.  Properly