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This small book deserves a longer review than usual because it ably summarizes a whole subject. Hoffmann states that the object of his paper is to eradicate false conceptions that still exist about congenital syphilis and to unite obstetricians, dermatologists and pediatricians in the fight against the disease.
In the chapter on pathogenesis full credit is given to the late Rudolf Matzenauer for his keen realization of the maternal transmission of syphilis at a time (1903) when the spirochetes of syphilis and the Wassermann reaction were not yet discovered and for his upright fight against the theory of paternal transmission, an opinion then held by the leading scientists. The difficulties in eradicating erroneous beliefs are illustrated by the quotation of publications which appeared as late as 1929 in which the actual facts were obviously misinterpreted. The author also condemns the French theory of choc en retour and