The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1868-11-20
II Lepey T.ifIage.

A writer in the CoralsU Magazine de.
scribes visit to Chinese leper village
near Canton. He says: ',''
ut is situated about two miles and half
from the suburbs of Canton, on slight
eminence, in the midst of cultivated fields
and accommodates between four and five
hundred lepers, with their children born in
the asylum. All persons recognized or de-
clared by the authorities to be lepers are
sent to these asylufns, of which there are
three in the neighborhood Of Canton, -
Neither husband, wife nor children re y
lowed to accompany the leper to tho ASK
lum but they are allowed to choose. them
selves new conjugal mates from the inmates
of the same. The children born from these
unions remain in the village. 1 saw of
them great number, varying from the age
OF infancy to the age Of twenty-five years,
and, in fact, judging from the great num-
Der OF sound people In the establishment,
the offspring would seem to be as numer-
GUS as the legitimate occupants of the place.
Only one leper admitted that he was the
son OF another leper then in the place. As
q rule, they try to conceal their descent
from diseased parents. The village itself
forms rectangle, surrounded BY q brick
wall twelve feet high, with q gate which
is closed every night. The following
description may give you an idea of its in
ner arrangement. A street about fourteen
feet wide (wider than any streetin Canton,)
leads from the gate straight up to the tenn
pie or joss-house. From this street branch
out at right angles on each side about four
teen narrow lanes, three feet and half
wide, each two separated by one single low
building, partitioned again by wall along
its whole length, and crossways by twelve
to fourteen crosswalls, SO as to form twenty
four narrow apartments In these small
holes that whole mass of population is
slowed away every night. OF course, I
cannot speak with praise of its state of
cleaniiness-quite the reverse. During the
day the gates are open, and the lepers roam
about at liberty, to beg through the streets
] of Canton. They receive. besides. small
daily allowance from Government, and the
monopoly of the trade Of cojr-rope making,
by which they earn something in addition.
The lepers leave the village in the daytime
at pleasure, and their friends enter. as free
| ly to visit them, circumstances which 90
far to demonstrate the popular opinion
that the contagion is not volatile or diffu-
sible, or that it requires prolonged actual
contactto communicate itselffrom one per-
son to another, s.sifs as,,sst.. 80.
"We had taken precautionary measures
to send message to the village on the day
previous that we were coming to distrib-
ute aims among them. In consequence Of
this, the graater portion of the lepers re-.
NAMED at home that day. and had an
opportunity of examining great number.
As q result Of this investigation of cases,
DR.. Hillebrand satisfies himself that there
exists in Chinese leprosy three distinct va
rieties-the tubercular form, the erysipela-
tous and the simply paretic or paraly tic.-4
The latter form Is often accompanied with
inyeterate psoriasis !; and he had frequent
~ seen this type Of disease in the Hawaiian
islands, but had not previously recognized
it as leprou." sssisgp {