Physiological and medical observations among the Indians of southwestern United States and northern Mexico / by Ales Hrdlicka.

  • Alex Hrdlicka
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Physiological and medical observations among the Indians of southwestern United States and northern Mexico / by Ales Hrdlicka. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    III all, 14(3 cases, vciy proljahly all of gi'and inal in various degrees, in 47 localities. No cases were reported from 55, or a little more than half of the schools and reservations. The proportion of epileptics to the total Indian population would be 1.17 per thousand, which is quite near the mean proportion among whites. In central and southern Europe, according to Hirsch's summary,^ an approximate estimate would put the average frequency of the disease at about 1 or 1.5 per 1,000 inhabitants. In France it ranges in the various depart- ments from 0.5 to 3.4, and among Italian conscripts from 1.3 to 5.1 per thousand. The tribes most afflicted with the disease are: Epileptics per 1,000. Yankton Sioux 3. 5 Epileptics per 1,000. Lower Brule Sioux 8.5 Menominee 7.8 ' Piegan 3.4 Walapai 5. 8 1 Flathead Agency Indians 2. 7 Cheyenne (Cantonment) 5.7 Oglala Sioux 2.5 Lower Yankton Sioux 4. 9 j Shoshoni and Bannock 2. 2 Sioux (Rosebud agency) 4.6 j Sisseton Sioux 2.1 Winnebago 3. 7 i It is noticeable that half of the tribes where epilepsy is prevalent are branches of the Sioux and that 10 of the 13 tribes live in cold regions. Among the 146 epileptics 76 were males and 70 females; that is, nearly equal proportions of the two sexes. As to age, 35 of the males were adults and 41 adolescents and children,while among the females 32 were adults and 38 young. It is evident that the disease develops in most cases during the period of growth. Idiocy, all grades of feeble-mindedness included, is, it appears, widely distributed. The reported cases were as follows: 5 Apache (1 male child, 2 male adults, and 2 female children), at the Fort Apache agency, Ariz., in a population of 2,058. 3 Apache (all male children), at the Mescalero agency, N. Mex., in a population of 460. 1 Apache (male child), at the Jicarilla agency, N. Mex., in a population of 780. 2 Apache or Kiowa (1 male adult and 1 female child), at Fort Sill, Okla., in a popula- tion of 298. 3 Arapaho (2 female children and 1 female adult), at Cantonment, Okla., in a popula- tion of 237. 1 Cheyenne (male adult), at Cantonment, Okla., in a population of 528 1 Cheyenne (male child), at the Seger School, Okla., in a population of 551. 1 Indian (female child), at the Cheyenne and Arapaho agency, Okla., in a population of 1,297. 4 Indians (] male and 3 female adults), at the Cheyenne River agency, S. Dak., in a population of 2,477. 1 Coeur d'Al&ne (male adult), at the Colville agency, Wash., in a population of 577. 3 Crows (2 male children and 1 female child), at the Crow agency, Mont., in a popula- tion of ] ,826. 2 Indians (1 male and 1 female adult), at the Fort Peck agency, Mont., in a population of 1,651. a Handbook of Geographical and Historical Pathology, 537, m.
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