Yaws : its nature and treatment an introduction to the study of the disease / by J. Numa Rat.

  • Rat, Joseph Numa.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Yaws : its nature and treatment an introduction to the study of the disease / by J. Numa Rat. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/74
    In concluding my introductory remarks I have to express the opinion that the profession is indebted to Dr. Rat for a very important contribution to our knowledge respecting Yaws. His essay abounds with facts of great value, and evidently stated with complete impartiality. For myself, I feel strongly that I owe him an apology for the circumstance that my preface has assumed rather the qualities of a criticism, and that too in some measure adverse to one of his principal propositions. This has, however, been unavoidable, and it will, I feel sure, be readily pardoned by one whose “ sole motive in writing is the hope of benefit to humanity by the dis¬ covery of truth respecting a loathsome and painful disease.” In the hope of giving some little assistance to future investigators I venture to make the following suggestions for enquiry :— Does Yaws ever occur in Europeans ? and if so, does it shew any differences from the disease as seen in Africans ? Cases should be recorded in detail. What are the statistics as to the frequency of syphilis in districts where Yaws is common P Are the two diseases usually in inverse ratio of frequency ? Do well-marked examples of inherited syphilis occur frequently in the Yaws districts ? Are infants who have suffered from definite inherited syphilis liable to contract Yaws ? Are there many cases in which it is impossible to decide whether the symptoms are due to syphilis or to Yaws ? Are differences of diagnosis on this point common amongst medical men ? How short may be the interval between a well-marked attack of Yaws and one of syphilis ? If a woman, the subject of Yaws in an early stage, say, within a year of contracting it, become pregnant, what is the result to her foetus ? Do recently infected women ever bear healthy children P What are the peculiarities of syphilis in the dark races ? Is a well-indurated chancre often seen ? Do bullet buboes occur ? In cases of tertiary symptoms from supposed Yaws, such for instance as ulcerations of the palate, is it often the fact that syphilis can with confidence be excluded. May not such cases as those given at pages 38 and 39 have been instances of the co-existence of Yaws with syphilitic taint ? In the secondary stage of Yaws is there often any affection of the tonsils or pharynx ? The omission of the usual sore throat of syphilis, in cases of Yaws, seems to me, as the case stands, one of the strongest facts in support of the theory of their non- identity. [174674] 3