Bejel: Nonvenereal Syphilis

Various aspects ofbejel, the form of syphilis found among the Arabs of the valley of the middle Euphrates River, have been dealt with in previous papers from the clinic of the American Mission at Deir-ezZor.1Its nonvenereal aspect, however, has not hitherto received specific consideration, althoughbejelwould seem to differ radically from conventional syphilis in this respect. Sexual intercourse is so definitely linked with syphilis in clinical experience and scientific thought that the history of exposure to venereal disease through intercourse and the presence of genital primary lesions are recommended in textbooks to differentiate syphilis from other diseases. Syphilis without a venereal factor, though its possibility has been generally assumed and though some observers have even found it in isolated cases, has never been studied in a large population group and has remained largely hypothetic. My statement, therefore, that syphilis does exist, asbejel