Modern Indian leprosy : being the report of a tour in Kattiawar, 1876 : with addenda on Norwegian, Cretan and Syrian leprosy.
- Henry Vandyke Carter
- Date:
- 1876
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Modern Indian leprosy : being the report of a tour in Kattiawar, 1876 : with addenda on Norwegian, Cretan and Syrian leprosy. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![stream—about 200 housep, population (817) Katti, Kumbhar, j Raj (jar, Sagar, Wani—no Koli or Kunbi : food jowari, bajri ; | urid, mung : river-water, no wells here. A struggling, poor and dirty village, dilapidation, remains of fortiticatious and much debris everywhere. No guinea-worm : cholera raged a few days ago, 10 out of 20 attacked dying : no raphi : leprosy said to be rare but the people are very reticent. Instead of 1 case, as in official list, 3 are acknowledged, and 2 others of doubtful nature are mentioned : these were afterwards sought out through the leper Kumbhar. It is positively asserted that this disease has only recently appeared here. 1. —M , Kumbhar, aff. 30, labourer, born at a short distance, here since 6 years, has travelled but little, went to Mhowa before disease appeared ; it came on 5 years ago, a year after his settling in this place, in cold season ; beginning with a chronio eruption on the body, unattended with fever. At present, he shows developed T. L. on face and ears : trunk covered with small nodules seemingly in a quiescent state : I hands bronzed, fingers swollen, glossy, ulcerated, nails gone j and tips wasted away : numbness as high as shoulders ; feet in same state, sores on great toes ; there has been necrosis j of right tibia ; numbness as high as knee. Nipples enlarged. Parents dead, not leprous ; 4 sons of whom he alone is | affected : 2 sisters alive and well, 1 dead, not leprous : other brothers are away in fields, they are well. Previous family taint is denied : cannot account for his disease : married, wife left him on account of this affection and has married again : no children. Denies contact with lepers, but this is uncertain : was living and working as usual when the disease came on, in this village : it is increasing, lives alone : there are running sores on his limbs : general condition indifferent. Syphilis denied, and he asserts that the right tibia was diseased when he was young (it has grown since—shaft affected). There was no other leper here when he came : he came by chance seeking a livelihood by work, from Bdbradhar (where leprosy is known to exist). His niece No. 2 is a leper. 2. —F., Kumbhar caste, about 15 years old, used to work as a labourer, born at Meriana (near here and has lepers in it) and oame here with a small colony of Kumbhars (including No. 1) 7 years ago : has not travelled : leprosy ] for 3 years, and commencing with an eruption of white spots —* dadar,’ * carolea,’ followed by disease of the hands. Now j there is decided T. L. on face ; ears enormously enlarged : a stolid look, eyes nearly closed, no hair on tumid glossy face, abundance on head. On back are numerous nodules and traces of the original eruption (L. L.) great distortion of hands, fingers firmly flexed, tumid, eroded at tips, palms atrophied ; left hand shows ulnar nerve-disease very well, it is less affected than the other ; numbness as high as elbows. Feet rather less changed, but bronzed, rough, red, numbed as high as knees, feels nothing in the soles. Menstruation has not appeared at all in this girl : growth is stunted, and she looks like an old woman. Is the daughter of brother of No. 1—his niece—father alive and well : mother died 10 years 8go : she had white spots on the body 2 years before her death at Babradhar, there was, too, swelling of the face. Two brothers are well, older ; 2 sisters well, younger, she is the only’ one affected. Uncle No. 1 has the disease. Not married, was betrothed ; cannot account for the disease. It causes great grief to her family, because she was an amiable girl and very useful in the house. Partook of usual food, and lived as usual when the disease came on in this village : it is spreading : she lives partly apart : has running sores : general condition indifferent : was living in the common apartment when the disease appeared. All the Kumbhars inhabit one locality bore. 3. —There is another leper in the village, the daughter of a Bhawa who is gone to the neighbouring villages to beg ; did not see her. 4 —M, Sagar, cet. 35, labourer, born at a distance, here for 30 years, has travelled a little ; leprosy for 2 years ; it began with darkening of skin at back of handp, then of feet. At present face is puffed and red about brows and ears : eyes staring : nothing now on the back, hands bronzed, skin thinned and wrinkled and in parts benumbed : right little finger bent at tip, nails of first and second next fingers changed into horny plates, also of thumb ; not of other fingers : pumbness in forearm. Feet in same state with numbness, parents dead, 2 brothers and a sister : all relatives free from disease, married, has a daughter of 3 to 4, who is well. Denies contact with lepers, and cannot account for the disease : was eating and working as usual when it began in this place : it is stationary now ; lives with his daughter ; no running sores ; general condition fair ; denies syphilis. Was the disease acquired here 1 6.—F., Rajghur (Koli), aet. 32, born at a distance, here for 15 years ; has not travelled : affected for 8 years ; first a sense of heat in body, followed by stiffness and bending of fingers. Nothing on face : on back mere traces of large white patches, covering whole surface : both hands are typical examples of ‘ claws’ : no numbness and probably ulnar neves not enlarged : feet little changed, but some of the toes are atrophied on left foot ; no loss of Bensation here. F., M. and brother dead, without leprosy ; 3 sisters, 2 alive and well : husband alive and well : a son of 9 and a daughter of 14, well : caunot say about contact or account for her disease : recollects little about the beginning of her com- plaint ; was occupied solely in household affairs. The symptoms are lessening ; does not live apart : no sores ; general condition tolerable. Here is A. L. but nerve trunks unchanged. Or had there been neuritis 2 In this village of Vadal only one leper is entered in the usually accurate lists, yet here are 4 or perhaps 5 lepers known, and were the whole population inspected possibly others would be found. The people are very reticent. (I was not able to go about much on account of diarrhoea, resulting probably from a long ride of 24 miles in a hot sun and drinking bad water.—February 16th.) Cases seen at MAHUWA 16 miles to S.E. near to coast ; a large walled town in a plain, with low hills around and a river passing by : 4,183 houses, 12,556 people, § Hindus, $ Mus- sulmans and others. A place long built, supplied with water by wells, river and tank : no marked peculiarities : burial ground within walls : a growing place of late, but in detail no cleaner than other towns no drainage or scavenging ; surroundings rather barren, with gardens about, but no care taken to keep the river pure : ground water at present within 10 feet of surface : wells without steps. Guinea-worm occurs, but there is a tank of water often used. Leprosy is commonly known here as ‘ Kod’—the lepers as * Kodia’; 24 are seen, and there are 25 entered. 1. —M., Ram Yisram, Koli (Shiyal), 65, born at Mugada on coast, lived at Dugaini near here (not on coast) for 12 years, in Mhowa only a few days, begging, has not travelled much ; leprosy for about 8 years, first had guinea- worm in legs followed by swelling of limbs and face. Well- marked T. L. in face which is muoh bronzed, ears much enlarged, skin of trunk roughened and thickened, hands swollen, nails deformed, fingers clubbed, numbness on back of hands and adjoining parts of forearm ; feet similarly affected with numbness, nipples enlarged. Parents dead, not of leprosy : a brother and a sister also free ; believes that his wife’s brother and his uncle (F. B.), and their children had the same disease. The former (W. bro.) lived close to his room, and his son was affected. Married : wife free and children well : a girl was born after the beginning of the disease in him. There were other lepers in Dugaini : cannot account for the disease in himself : was eating and living and working in the fields there, when it cane oi : it is stationary : is alone here : excoriations about soles : general condition tolerable : eats fish in different states once or twice a week : denies syphilis. Here contagion is possible, and heredity is also named. 2. —M., Kano Murseri, Koli, 60, beggar, bom at Katpur (where is muoh L.), disease for 4 years, has not travelled far, in Mhowa only since it began ; it came first in fingers, then on face, with cracking of Bkin and vesicles. Nothing on face, but there are white patches on forehead reaching to root of hairs and beyond ; on trunk are numerous large pale patches : hands deeply bronzed and much mutilated ; little fingers quite gono : numbness, but no great loss of muscular power . feet not so much affected, but one toe of right foot quite gone. Parents dead, were free; brothers also well, no family taint. Married, wife alive and well and children too, though](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22392798_0040.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
