Report on leprosy by the Royal College of Physicians, prepared for Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies; with an appendix.
- Royal College of Physicians of London ; Great Britain. Colonial Office.
- Date:
- [1867]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report on leprosy by the Royal College of Physicians, prepared for Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies; with an appendix. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![I have seen many cases in coloured and in black persons. I have also heard of cases in families claiming to be of exclusively European descent. In the latter circumstances, every effort is made to seclude the case as much as possible. It is well known that the Hebrew race, who can boast of purity of blood, are unusually liable to leprosy. Dt. Sprott. It occurs, according to my experience, more frequently among the mixed race, especially in those approaching most nearly to the white, and in the pure black population, than among the pure white and the mulattos (properly so called) in the first degree. In a small community, intermarriage must influence the spread of the disease. Dr. Arnott. 6. Amongst the poor. I believe it to be more frequent among the town than the rural population. Dr. Checkley. More cases are seen in the towns than in the rural districts, because they come to the former for charity. h. Some live under the public galleries on heaps of rags, protected from the wind by the skins of oxen; others in wooden hovels on the beach. A few ancGsthetic cases are provided for in the almshouse in connexion with the Colonial Hospital. d. Living on charity, they must take what they can get. e. None, unless practising on the superstitious fears of the ignorant by obeah arts. Dr. Sprott. I consider the ordinary diet of the population (consisting chiefly of salt fish, vegetables, corn meal, fresh fish, with a very insufficient proportion of fresh meat and bread,) to be unfavourable to the preservation of good health generally. Dr. Arnott. 7. I am firmly of opinion that the development of the disease is encouraged and accelerated by poor diet and indulgence in ardent spirits. Dr. Arnott. 8. Yes. No. Dr. ChrAlpy It is hereditary. Dr. Sprott. Y(?s, in my opinion. AYs. Dr. Arnott. 9. I think it is connected with scrofula, but not with any other disease. I look upon leprosy as a form of scrofulous disease of the sudoriferous and labial glands, and of the sebaceous and meibomian follicles, proceeding to scrofuloijs infiltration of the subcutaneous cellular tissue, implication of the ends of the bones, and ultimately of internal organs. Dr. Checkley. When I took charge of the Colonial Hospital, a few years ago, I found in the almshouse a Portuguese affected with yaws, and as it was contrary to the rules to have him there, he was forthwith discharged. Many months afterwards, a Portuguese boy, whom I had successfully treated for leprous ulcerations of the hands and inferior extremities on two former occasions, was admitted. While attending him the old yaw patient came in, and, on stripping them Ijoth, I was struck with the remarkable resemblance between the cicatrices on the lower extremities. The man died of ulcerated legs and diarrhoea ; the boy is now an incurable leper. Dr. Sprott. 10. I have met with one case Avhere the disease was said to have been communicated to a child, not hereditarily predisposed to it, by contact with a leper in whom there was ulceration with discharge. I believe leprosy to be communicable in this way, and in this way only. In the scrofulous disease of the sudoriferous glands, known here as ‘ letterworin,’ I have observed it to extend in the direction in which the discharge flowed. Dr. Checkley, 1 cannot regard it to be contagious. I have heard it stated to be so by others. Dr. Sprott. I believe that it is not contagious. I have known a man live with his wife who was a leper, for many years, without contracting the disease. Dr. Arnott. 11. No restrictions. They are not avoided by the negro ])opulatiou. Dr. Checkley. Segregation and legal provision were attempted here, but the attempt failed. Dr. Sprott. There is no restriction. ... I consider that isolation is an imperative necessity, and should be made compulsory. Dr. Arnott. 12. None. Dr. Checkley. 1 understand some lepers are maintained at the public expence, and others by a small fum ])rincipally contributed by successive grand juries. Some cases of anesthetic leprosy are and have been admitted into the alms hou.^e. Dr. Sprott. 1C157. D](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24992069_0109.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
