A contribution to the history of leprosy in Australia / by J. Ashburton Thompson.

  • Thompson, John Ashburton, 1848-1915.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A contribution to the history of leprosy in Australia / by J. Ashburton Thompson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    9377 Chinese were enumerated in 1891 (when their propor- tionate number to the total population had also become much less). Considerably more than half of them lived in four counties—among them Bourke_, in which the capital lies; but there were none at all in only two counties. So also there were but two among all the cities, towns, and boroughs in which there were no Chinese ; most were enu- merated in Melbourne (1563), Ballarat (433), and Bendigo (368). In other such places there were only moderate or small numbers in each, so tj^^-t^. i^nStotiJog-Chinese (7013) were very widely distribux^. These facts sufficiently^v^^establish the^ Dresemje of Chinese in Victoria in considerable pr'o]^OTt?on (S^^ing,, many years) to the total population, ?fod in__cgi'J^.in localit^ies in a still larger proportion; their diss^n^itati^n^ d^er tlie colony, and always in those places where moSt whites were to be found ; their occupation, in numbers and at trades which would be likely to bring them into association with the whites, or, at least, casual business contact, and their connection with the food supply. In the Appendix the presence of leprosy among them at several towns is established; and the facts permit the inference that the disease occurred among them more fre- quently than has been actually recorded, especially during the years 1858—1880. It is also shown in the Appendix that the lepers were never isolated, and were never systematically cared for; so that the destitution into which some of them fell was the subject of public as well as oflBcial reproach, and their presence in public places at advanced stages of illness was the subject of a motion for adjournment in the Legislative Assembly. Sect. XII.—THE CHINESE IN NEW SOUTH WALES. A statement is on record that in 1836 the colonists found themselves in need of labour ; and their applications to the Colonial Office having been met by the despatch of an unsuitable class of emigrants, they felt obliged to import