The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1865-09-16

Females.

Raftie, oct. 40 mother and brother leprous.
RamananhariyO, at. ~; mother and sister leprous,
married, no children husband quite well.
Ranayo, at. Is father and mother sad to be
healthy younger brother leprous.
ifarI, 1t. 30 mother leprOus.
RamatOa, act. 40; no account of parents two
daughters, the youngest leprOus.
ROketaha, Gt. p father leprous.
Izafy, at. 30 brother ~leprOus. No information
regarding father and mother
RenizOma, set 40; three years sick; younger
daughter five year. IL leper.
I,indra, et. 81 brother leprous father and mo
ther said To BE- healthy.
LaizOna, et. II; father, uncle, and brother le-
prOus one brother well.
liza a, let. 10; father and brother leprous.
kabako. aet- ~ fifteen years sick brother and
sister leprous.
RaiOzaehana, act. 40 father, mother, and one
daughter leIrOus-
RasOa, act. II (; several of the family leprous.
Kamayo, act. 10 husband and child leprous.
Same, get. u: father leprous.
BOlo, about IL; mother leprous.
Ramanan., act Sc; mother leprOus.
kOtOfOtsy,- one child leprOus.
RambOamayo, set. So mother, father, and one
child leprOus.
Andramanana, get. Sc mother leprous.
Rabeanpina brother and child leprous.
Ratsilainga, get. At son Ieprous.
Mangaiahy, set. 10 several members of the fami-
ly leprous.
Manakavaua sister and grandmother leprous
father and mother healthy.
Rafara, one daughter leprous no account of pa
rents.
Javy,A.7; father leprou..
fbolo, father and mother both leprous, elder mo-
Their not leprous
These facts leave no room for doubt rs to the
hereditary nature Of leprosy. 1t often happens
that children who have been born before the is
ease has manifested itself in their parents, either
escape the disease altogether, or at least much
longer than the children born after the ieprOsy
has developed itself in one CT other of the pa
rents. They also suffer from Il milder and slower
form of the malady. Ii is thus frequently MOTTO
ed, and there are one or 20 instances OF it in the
above table. that the disease first attacks the
younger children, and then the others inrersely
according 30 hheir Gge-proving that the more
advanced the disease is in the parents, the sooner
will 1t affect the offspring. We also observe now
and again the disease to break out in the children
before it shows itself in the parent from whom
they inherited 1t. Thus, in the table | have
given. RenizOma, n patient aged 46, had suffered
from leprOsy for three years, while her daughter
had actually been i'll for five years. The disease
thus appearing two years earlier in the child who
inherited 1t, than in the mother who transmitted
1t.
Leprosy will occasionally remain latent for at
least one generation, and re-appear in the next,
AS in the case Of MandkarQna, whose own pa
rents were healthy, but whose grandmother and
sister were lepers. In all such instances, how
ever, the leprous diathesis may be recognized in
those who escape the fully developed disease.
The signs of this diathesis are, LIST, Falling of
the hair of the cheeks, and a patent condition Of
the hair follicles I'd, Loss OF hair from the outer
angle of the eyebrows; Sd. Enlargement of the
lobes of the ears 4th. Mental and physical tor
pitude. The persons presenting these features
often die from diseases of the respiratory organs.
Where u liability to the disease exists, exposure,
OverwOrk, grief, poor or bad diet, cold and damp,
-
causes and when it has taken hold of the system
these circumstances powerfully tend 10 aggravate
1t. As men are more exposed TO the operation OF
these causes than women. we may account for the
fact that women are less liable To the disease than
men and the well-to-dO members of society than
the poverty-stricken while sobriety and care will
tend To prevent Its development or render its pro-
gress slower and milder-
In "A very considerable number of the patients,
I coald not obtain any reliable information re-
speeding their family history. | several times
found that patients altogether denied the exist
ence of leprosy in their families, although private
inquiries afterwards satisfied me that one or more
Ot their relations were at the time suffering from
the disease. 10 Is looked upon rs n disgrace, and
few will admit that il Is real kPrOSy from which
they suffer. Then we all know how readily such
circumstances n are thought to be discredItable
are allowed 10 pas into oblivion. No trouble -
taken 10 record the fact that an ancestor was u
leper. Making allowances. then, for these con
siderations, / am inclined 10 believe that in the
vast majOrity-nay, rn almost ersry cnse-careiul
inquiry would establish the existence OF n here
ditary faint.
Yet there is no doubt a very small percentage
where no such faint can be discovered. In six
teen of the cases observed, the most careful ex-
animation and inquiry failed to make out any
history of leprUsy in the PATIENTS family. This
leads To the important questiOn-Docs leprosy
originate dc moro at the present day, or is 1t
spread by cOntagiOn? We nave in the hundred
recorded cases, three instances of husband and
wife being both at once affected. There was one
patient, too, in whom there was no history of
lerroSy IN the family, but who had lived in the
house with a leper. The question may be asked,
are these condolences, or are they something
more? vt present we have not a sufficient num-
Der of facts 10 decide this question. 1t cannot be
highly contagious in the ordinary sense of the
word. for We constantly zee husbands suffering
from the disease living for years with their wives,
without communicating 1t, and rice rerss. 1t
certaialy deserves notice, that while the laws of
Madagascar excluded leprous persons from society,
the disease was kept within bounds but after
this ~salutary law was permitted to fall into dis
use, leprosy has spread 10 an almost incredible
extent. There is no doubt that this result is
partly owing to lepers being allowed to marry
without any hindraEce, but the natives are also
strongly Impressed with the conviction that the
disease is inOculable. Upon this point my cases
cast no light. 1t is highly probable that the same
originating causes, which at first gave rise to
sleprosy, are still in existence and endemic in GER
tain localities. Ii may spring up now and then
under certain circumstances, de moro, without
contagion or hereditary faint. What the origin
ating causes are is a profound mystery. In the
Island Of Madagascar there are n number of diff
ferent race Of all shades oc color from the pure
- - - -o1--fa-.a- = -