The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-04-20
A LIVING DEATH.
THE TERRIBLE DISEASE WHICH THE
CHINESE HAVE INTRODUCED ON
THE PACIFIC COAST.

TIRE PACIFIC COAST.
Aa Incnrable Malady That Dates Back to
the FAN Of Man-AncIent Accounts and
More Modern Instances of Lepr0sy.
fsan Francisco Chronicle.l
Inc Keen, Industrious, intelligent China
man. which Henry Ward Beecher has intro
duced to the American public and who Is SO
beautifully portrayed by Thomas Mast of
Harper's Weekly brings with him to these
shores the seal of dishonor that probably
dates back to the fall Of man. Whether with
the tenacity which has shut the gates Of their
walled world against the barbarians for ages
past, they foster this browning evil of the
flesh, know not; but certain it Is that 4oO.-
100000 Mongolians inherit scrofulous tenden-
ctes, and that with them the leprous seed
seems to terminate spontaneously. This
horrible and fatal disease has already been
introduced into California; it has followed
the Chinese to every land where they have
cooIized. | will anon attempt to prove that
a little leper may leaven whole race. But
first, do you know Of what we treat2 Manu-
drel, an old English traveller Of the seven
teenth century, writing OF the leprosy he
saw in Syria, says: sit is a distemper so
noisome that it might well pass for the ut
most corruption OF the human body on this
side the grave" And we'll it might! Behold
the
DIAGNOSIS OF THE GREEKS:
When leprosy is fully developed 1t is char
aeterized by the presence OF dusky-red or
livid tubercles OF different sizes upon the
face, lips, nose, eyebrows, ears and extremi-
ties OF the body, The skin Of the tubercn-
TX nI yA,f,f hi.lIyn t,fxI
wrinkled and shining, and the features are
very greatly distorted. The hair OF the eye
broWs, eyelashes and beard falls off; the
eyes are often Injected and the eonjunctiva
swelled the pupil OF the eve contracts, giving
the organ q weird cat-like expression the
voice becomes hOarse and nasal the sense OF
smell Is impaired or lost, and that OF touch.
or common sensation, is strangely altered;
the differentiated parts, which are, in the first
instance, sometimes supersensltlve, Iatterly,
In the course OF the disease, become para
lyzed or anesthetic. AS the malady progress
SEES, the tubercles soften and open, ulcera-
tionS Of similar mucu0uS tubercles appear in
nose and throat, rendering the breath ex-
tremely offensive; tubercular masses, or lep-
rous tubercles as shown by dissection, begin
to form internally upon various mucous
membranes and on the surface OF the kidneys,
lungs, ETC., cracks, assures aud circular ul-
GERS appear on the fingers, toes and extremi-
ties, and joint after joint drops off by kind
upper and sometimes the lower extremities
are specially afflicted by this modification
and mutifation OF parts. An Eastern travel
or, DR.. Halbeck, In looking down from
neighboring height into
THE GREAT LEPER HOSPITAL
of Hamel en- Arade, tells us that he noticed
two lepers sowing peas IN the field; 'the one
hid 20 hands, the other had no fee, these
members being wasted away by disease. The
one who wanted hands was carrying the
other, who wanted feet, on his back, and he
again carried ia his hand a bag OF seed, and
the other pressed into the ground with his
feet" 1t Is not the fashion to discuss this
subject, but inasmuah as, to quote Mr..
Beecher, 1--WE have insisted upon it that they
(the Chinese1 shall come here, and they are
coming, and somebody has got to get out of
the way, let us see what possible late awaits
those who have the moral courage to stand
their ground. Mezeray records that in the
twelfth century there was scarcely a town or
village in France without its leper hospital
Muratori gives a similar account of the ex
tent OF the disease during the Middle Ages In
Italy; old Scandinavian historians amply
prove that he inhabitants OF the Kingdoms Of
Northern Europe equally became its unfortu-
nate victims. In England and Scotland dur
ing the Middle Ages leprosy was as rife as it
was on the neghboring continent Almost
every large town in Great Britain had ieper
hospital or village near it, for the reception
anu OIL the uISehSGu. some OF Tie
cities were supplied with more than one lazar-
house. There were six OF these establish
ments in Norwich or its immediate vicinity
and five at Lynn Regis.
YEARS OF FEARFUL CARE
have thinned out the ranks Of the afflicted,
but the fruitful seeds of the disease are broad
cast, and it is reasonable to suppose that SO
long as mankind remains susceptible to the
Ills of the flesh, he may not despair OF BIOS
soming like the rose by another name, but
with odor less agreeable In modern times
leprosy has been found existing to greater
or less extent in places the most distant and
diSsimilar in regard to temperature, climate.
situation and soil. You will fnfi 1t in Suma-
ira, under the equator; in part OF Iceland,
almost within the verge Of the Arctic circle,
in the temperate regions OF both hemlspheres
in the southern, as at Hamel en-Arade in
the Cape district, and in the northern at Ma
deira and Morocco; in the dry and arid plains
of Arabia, and in the wet and malarious dis
tricts OF Batavia and Surinam; along the
shores Of Guinea and Sierra Leone, and in
the interior OF Africa Hindoostan, Asia Minor
and Asiatic Russia; on the sea coast, as at
Carthage and thousands OF feet above the
level OF The ocean, us on the tabIe-lands of
Mexico; on some of the islands on the Indian,
Chinese, Caribbean and Mediterranean seas,
and basking in the sunshine OF the heart OF
the Pacific. There Is no reason why leprosy
may not be distributed
FROM SEA TO SEA
across this prolific continent. 1t is true. as
Mr.. Beecher says, eve may be wise in time,
and have friendly relations with this great
people, or we may be foolish in time, and
have relations far from friendly" but it is
we'll to take time by the forelock and re-
ceive the refuse of the 400 900 900, crowded out
OF their own inhospitable land, with due pre-
cautions that admit of no delay. In the
golden age OF leprosy laws We're enacted by
nearly all the princes and courts OF Europe
to arrest its diffusion among their subjects.
The popes issued bulls with regard to the
ecclesiastical separation and rights of the in
fected. A particular order of knighthood was
instituted to watch over the sick. "Accord-
ing to the tenor Of various civil codes and
local enactments in Great Britain and other
countries, when a person became afflicted
with leprosy he was legally and politically
dead, and lost the privileges belonging to his
right OF citizenship. The Church also took
the same view. and on the day on which he
was separated from his fellow-creatures and
4 e.. AZ r.