The first sign of syphilis is a small red spot, pimple, or ulcer. It usually appears from two to eight weeks after going with a woman who has syphilis, and is called a chancre [pronounced "shanker"].
Sometimes a chancre is so small and so slightly inflamed that no attention is paid to it. Any small sore on or near the penis should be carefully watched by a doctor. It may be a chancre.
In from six weeks to three months after the chancre has disappeared the disease enters upon the second stage. Some of the symptoms of this stage are: headaches, bone-pains, fever, mouth and throat sores, skin rashes, swollen glands, loss of hair, etc.
The third stage comes in from one to twenty years. It causes locomotor ataxia, paralysis, paresis [softening of the brain], and frightful ulcers.
Syphilis is highly contagious, particularly in the first and second stages.
Though a man usually gets it form a woman who has the disease, he can get it from articles which have come in contact with the mouth of one who has syphilis, and from kissing.
He can also give it in the same way, and a man who has syphilis should be careful not to kiss anyone or to let others use his pipes, towels, razors, etc.
