In October, 1919, a definite plan for the treatment of patients with neurosyphilis was adopted at the Manhattan State Hospital, with the intention of treating a large number for a sufficient length of time to obtain data on which to base reliable conclusions concerning the results of treatment.
Because of the irregularity in the progress of the parenchymatous form of neurosyphilis in different persons, it was fully appreciated at the outset that a large number of patients must be treated for a time longer than the ordinary period of remissions in untreated cases, in order to be certain that the periods of improvement were due to treatment and not to the usual remissions. The patients accepted for treatment must not be selected but should be taken in the order of their admission, with the fewest possible exceptions, because a group of selected patients would not be representative of the general