No, 2956, dated Shillong, the 16th October 1876.
From—S. O. B. RIDSDALE, Esq., Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of
Assam.
To—The Officiating Secretary to the Government of India, Home
Department.
WITH reference to your No. 1—136, dated 5th March 1875, I am
directed to forward herewith, for the perusal of His Excellency the
Governor General in Council, copy of letter No. 1122, dated 21st
instant, and enclosure, from the Deputy Surgeon General, Dacca Circle,
on the subject of the treatment of leprosy with gurjun oil.
No, 1122, dated Shillong, the 2nd October 1876.
From—The Officiating Deputy Surgeon General, Dacca Circle.
To—The Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam.
WITH reference to your letter No. 2792 of the 20th ultimo, I have the honour
to forward herewith the report on the treatment of leprosy with gurjun oil.
Report from the Officiating Deputy Surgeon General, Dacca Circle, on the treatment
of leprosy by gurjun oil in the Province of Assam,—dated Shillong, the 2nd
October 1876.
FROM the subjoined abstract of reports on leprosy and its treatment by gurjun
oil it would appear—
(1) that leprosy does not exist to any great extent in Assam, and that the
Province affords but a limited field for the prosecution of experiments in
treatment ;
(2) that the hill tracts within and on the borders, viz,, Khasi, Garo, Abor
and Naga Hills, are remarkably exempt;
(3) that the disease is most frequently met with in tracts of country at the
foot of the hills ; as these localities are rendered unhealthy by jungle
growth and neighbouring swamps, a low state of vitality of constitution
is presumable, and this, associated with poverty, uncleanly habits, &c.,
may be considered to afford predisposing causes ;
(4) that from its generally scattered and isolated appearance in different
localities, no evidence is afforded of its contagious nature ;
(5) that the disease is occasionally, though not necessarily, hereditary ;
(6) that evidence of the efficacy of gurjun oil treatment is so conflicting as to
be negative, the medical officers of Sibsagar and Tezpur report favour-
ably, those of Sylhet, Nowgong, Cachar and Goalpara discredit its
utility.
DEBROOGHUR.—Surgeon Major White, 44th Native Infantry, states that the
only cases under his charge occurred amongst sepoys of the regiment who were
invalided a few days after coming under his observation. He is unable from per-
sonal experience to offer any opinion on treatment by gurjun oil. Amongst the
Assamese Proper the disease is not common ; nor is it confined to any particular
locality. The proportion diseased is estimated at two or three per 1,000 inhabitants.
Amongst the Mecris, a nomadic semi-savage race occupying the banks of the
Brahmaputra, the disease is more general : they subsist chiefly on roots and
pork—the latter the produce of loathsome animals fed on garbage and excrementi-
tious matter. Similar food is, however, consumed by the savage tribes inhabiting
the hills on both sides of the valley, though leprosy is exceedingly rare amongst them.
Evidence of causation of the disease by diet alone would by comparison of these
two contiguous instances be negative, and suggests enquiry for some other cause
which may be found in difference of climate.
Amongst the Abor, Duffla, and Naga tribes the disease is seldom seen ; but it
is inferred that the sufferers are subjected to such heroic treatment that the
remedies employed prove rapidly fatal.