FOR MANY years one of the interesting subjects in medical history has been the origin of syphilis, which disease was indelibly brought to the attention of the then civilized world at least as early as the late fifteenth century. The advent of printing no doubt had something to do with the world's first knowledge of the disease. From that time on we have very authentic reports in regard to its spread. A question that has further arisen is, how much was known of this disease or how much was written in regard to it before this date? Was this a condition that had come down through history along with the many other plagues that have affected the human race, or is it actually true that syphilis was brought to the civilized world by Columbus and his sailors when they returned from Hispaniola? Consideration of these problems has given rise to