Reprints of articles contributed to medical journals, 1895-1909 / by John D. Gimlette.

  • Gimlette, John D. (John Desmond), 1867-1934
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Reprints of articles contributed to medical journals, 1895-1909 / by John D. Gimlette. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    115/160 (page 109)
    occur on the sole and are very painful until they have burst through the epidermis. The pain is said to be much aggravated in the bare-footed native by contact with the dung of the buffalo and chicken. In Kelantan they are especially common during the durian (the thorny fruit) season in July and August, and for that reason, I believe, are called “puru durian.” These foot sores are also seen in children. A kind of xerodermia, or keratosis of the skin, as shown on the hands in fig. 2, also occurs on the foot, and is ascribed to puru. In appearance it is like dirty parchment paper, but the dry skin frequently cracks and causes painful fissures. This must not be confounded with the common affection of the feet, known locally as “ burok chelapah ” (lit., burok, rotten; chelapah, soiling by the tread). It is due to walking barefoot on gravel or sand. Although puru as a disease is liable to be very per- sistent and recrudescent, Malays never acknowledge any lesions of deep nature, such as nodes, chronic dactylitis, chronic arthritis, and deep ulcers, as being sequels of puru. Lesions of the kind shown in fig. 24 and Plates XXXIX. and XCI. of the New Sydenham Society’s Atlas [15] are very common among Malays. I do not think, however, that in the case of the Malay Peninsula one is justified in attempting to fit these facts into a clinical description of puru. They appear to me to be manifestations of syphilis. The Varieties and Complications of Puru. Malays distinguish the varieties of many of their diseases by a number of clinical names. For example, small-pox, which is common among them, has been given—under the name of “ penyakit ketumbohan ”— no less than eleven different descriptive names, ac- cording to the appearance of the pustules. Again, the average intelligent Malay will recognise at least seven different varieties of ringworm. Puru is divided in the