+Enlargement of Neighboring Glands.+--Nearly every one is familiar with
the kernels or knots that can be felt in the neck, often after
tonsillitis, or with eruptions in the scalp. These are lymph-glands,
which are numerous in different parts of the body, and their duty is,
among other things, to help fight off any infection which tries to get
beyond the point at which it started. The lymph-glands in the
neighborhood of the chancre, on whatever part of the body it is
situated, take an early part in the fight against syphilis. If, for
example, the chancre is on the genitals, the glands in the groin will be
the first ones affected. If it is on the lip, the neck glands become
swollen. The affected glands actually contain the germs which have made
their way to them through lymph channels under the skin. When the glands
begin to swell, the critical period of limitation of the disease to the
starting-point will soon be over and the last chances for a quick cure
will soon be gone. At any moment they may gain entrance to the blood
stream in large numbers. While the swelling of these glands occurs in
other conditions, there are peculiarities about their enlargement which
the physician looking for signs of the disease may recognize. Especially
in case of a doubtful lesion about the neck or face, when a bunch of
large swollen glands develops under the jaw in the course of a few days
or a couple of weeks, the question of syphilis should be thoroughly
investigated.

+Vital Significance of Early Recognition.+--The critical period of
localization of an early infection will be brought up again in
subsequent pages. As Pusey says, it is the "golden opportunity" of
syphilis. It seldom lasts more than two weeks from the first appearance
of the primary sore or chancre, and its duration is more often only a
matter of four or five days before the disease is in the blood, the
blood test becomes positive, and the prospect of what we call abortive