Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-07-29
LEPROsY IN CALIFORNIA.
History OF Its Appearance and
SPread-DimcuItIes In Obtaining
Accurate Information.


Chicago, President Of the American Der
matological Association, addressed DR..
John w. Foye, physician at the smallpox
hospital and lsZ2r house in this city, a
letter Of inquiry relative to leprosy IN Cali
fornia, and especially San Francisco. DR..
Hyde was particular 10 asking information
relative TO the number OF people here
afflicted with the disease, the varieties
which prevailed. the records showing de-
tails which might throw light upon the
question Of contagiou, heredity, length Of
the disease IN the State, the mode OF its
termina ion, and its chief symptoms. DR..
Hyde says leprosy has latteTly attracted
great attention among members Of the Der
matologicai Association, and knowing that
Il prevailed to q certain extent in this State
they were anxious to obtain information.
In reply Dr.. FoYe has written a remark
ably clear and concise paper on the his
| tory, with details, of the disease 10 this
State, which was to-day forwarded to the
East. DR.. Foye, in his paper, SAYS: 'In
regard 10 the subject Of your inquiry, lep-
rosy, shall be but too happy to furnish you
with all the data attainable from our rec
ords; at the same time would remind you
Of the fact that the subjects Of the disease,
with one exception, have beer MOngollans,
and unable to give other than the
most meagre account Of themselves, and
we are often compelled to rely upon con-
| lecture In fixing the age Of the patient. l
find by reference to the record that the first
leper, Hoy Tong, was sdmittedJuly 3. 1871,
and that be died on the Goth Of September,
1875. Since that date, 81 additional cases
have been received-49 males and females
making q total of 50 cases to account
for. The hospital was designed for the
treatment Of small pOX exclusively, and
the leprOsic have been admitted only when
found necessary to relieve other public in
stitutiOns, or, perhaps, the streets Of their
presence. Three invoices, aggregating
Is, have been sent by the authOri-
ties to China. Three have died OF the dis
ease, and one from accidental causes, and
one escaped. One committed suicide and
one, a Caucasian, is still an inmate. The
| ages OF the patients have been:
Between Is and %. 9 Between 30 and 40 .13
Between % and .. 90. q Between 40 and so 9
| Between 70 and 30. III
"No record has been kept OF the duration
| of the disease at the date of admission, nor
Of the length Of time the patient had been
| ia the country, an omission much TO be re-
| GREETED, and doubtless due to the fact that
their detention here was but temporary and
| pending shipment. 1t is not an assum p'ion
| to say they were, to appearances, healthy
| when they entered the port, the Chinese Six
| Companies being too keenly awake TO their
| own interests in importing uuprOductive
| labor, but that they were the subjects OF
| the disease in its incubation stage at the
| date of shipment is an inference irresistible.
| The type Of the disease is an3sthetic, tuber-
cular, mixed, not given.
Accompanying these notes you will find
| Photographic group of lepers, fourteen in
number. They comprise the second ship
ment made TO China, June 2, 1880. You will
/ also fnd two cabinet sizes from the same
| group, fine specimens Of the tubercular
! type of the disease just prior to the com
mencement Of the lucrative process. Upon
| the duration OF the disease, from personal
! observation | can give no information, bav-
| ing seen but one fatal case. 10 March 1876.
| when | Joined the hospital, 1t contained
| young Chinaman, then convaleecent from
| varioloid. His face was covered with tuber
! Giles (noW ulcerstive), usually seen in con
valescent stages of that disease, but
! they did not become absorbed He was
| discharged 10 April, but not till the stint
! larIty OF these tubercles to early leprosy
| had been the subject of comment. Ga the
| 2Sth Of July, 1879, he was RENTED with
| tubercular leprosy, fully developed, and he
| died of phthisis on the 20jh Of the follow
! ing March, four years from the first appear
! ance OF the disease For the two Years
! next succeeding the discharge from the
hospital IN 1876 he had been laboriousy en-
ployed as a miner. Pr contra 70 Sin and
| 70 Gan were both inmates of the hospital
I
| OF the disease several years prior
to admission, and were IN better physical
| condition when discharged than when ad-
mitted The former had been eight years
! in the country and four or five years the
| subject Of the disease liberation had com
| menced in the fOssa, between the lower lip
and prominence of the chin; but under
more generous diet than he had been accus-
| toned to it soon healed, and his general
| health continued good during the period Of
| his stay Ia hospital. For the past two years
! altmentatiCn hiss been our only treatment.
| The leptr reQures good nutrition and wants
| IL often. The ration of the American army
| is insufficient for his support until The last
Stage Of the disease has been reached.
| ANY opinion as to the plumber now in
| the city would be mere conjecture. | have
seen none out of the Chinese quarter. IEisless
| general than is commonly believed, vet the
| fact is a significant Que that on the 2 day
| OF June every known leper in the city was
| shipped for China, and before the end of
| the year IA new cases have accumulated
upon our hands. The Chinese Consul claims
| hospital rights for these people; the su-
thorities resist the calm, aud the courts
are now adiudicating the question. Is It
| contagious? English writers in India say
| 1t is not In the sense IN which the term is
usually employed, but the Chinaman who
| has been familiar with the disease and is
| traditions for centuries avoids the leper
with great care, and Will stand for hours
rather than occupy seat that had been va
Gated by one.
"The leper maintains tie most profouud
silence upon the subject of heredity. | have
seen but one who admitted its existence as
a family faint and he would, 1t is probable,
| have denied it had not the Inquiry been
made prior to a conference with his fellows
in the lazarette. All FOng Gin whom the
| disease had but recently declared itself was
! five wears in the country before any
symptoms appeared. tn Wong, for several
! wears marine fireman in the employ Of the
| Pacific Mail Company, between this port
! and the Orient, a man of fine physique and
well nourished, develops the disease at
thirty-two-sfter five years of generous
| diet on board of an American steam
ship, and surrounded by healthful sani-
tary conditions Thomas Stanton, present
! age forty seven, after a residence of
! nine years in Madras, Cfylon and Bombay,
sailed from Calcutta for New York, Deem
! Der a. 1870. For three and a half years
| after his arrival he remained in good health
! and worked as stonemasOn's assistant in
| Cleveland, Nashville aud other Western
cities In the autumn Of 1874, becoming the
| subject OF rheumatic pains, he concluded to
| seek a milder climate, and going TO Louis
! lana e remained there and In other Of the
his stay in the South he had worked a por-
ton OF his time, but did not feel well at
all, and though he had no medical advice
| he knew it must be that his blood was out
of order or these pimples wouldn't have
come out on his face (eprosic
| tubercles } Concluding TO work his
way back to Bombay, he reached Sacra-
mento, California, during the vintage OF
| 1878, and obtained employment in the dry
| ing room of a raisin factory. He was the
only white man in the room. During the
second day his fellow workmen discontin-
ued their work and declined to resume until
the foreman was discharged. The Chinese
bad recognized the disease more success
fully in this particular case than one of the
visiting surgeons of a hospital, who for a
period of six months subsequent treated
him as a syphilitic. He was admitted to
the hospital March 4, 1880, with fully de-
veloped leprosy of the mixed variety. Six
months since his appetite failed him. The
numbness in the toes which he had form
erly complained of gradually extended up
the feet, his voice became husky, cough
troublesome, the muscles are wasting, the
toes sloughing. He has become very irrita-
BILE, and he will, it is possible, succumb to
the disease during the current year. In this
instance, the only one in which l have been
able to obtain detailed history, the earliest
symptoms Of the disease made their appear
ahce four years after leaving the locality
where 1t is assumed to have been
acquired. or the symptoms no better de-
scription need be looked for than that given
by DR.. Fibury In pages 3l2 and BIB Of his
able work on skin or the functional