Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1883-04-21

men, who died Of leprosy. And. eouobora
tive evidence Of the indiScriminaie nature o
its attacks, is yet in store. and the day ma,
come, when It will bc hazardous TO speak %
this disease as, "the jus, reward of tn,
patients licentiousness.
| Evidently, however, Dr. Fitch has ei,he,
forgotten, OF wishes to ignore, what he said
short time since upon this subject. The fol
| lowing was his language. published year ago
| but hcen,iousness alone is not to blame FOL
the spread Of this disorder. Passing the
tobacco pipe from mouth TO mouth is no,
uncommon cause, and | fully believe the
| custom OF numbers eating poi ont Of the same
calabash with their fingers. also comes in
| under the same head" II the seoretions OF
the mouth, OF the cNuda,uns from finger,
are capable of conveying the contagion, Is |,
not barely possible that drinking tumbiers,
and other domestic utensils may he the means
| by which the poison can he conveyed to the
most innocent and sanity, without suspicion
OF whence /, may have GOMEZ
Speaking Of the disease as II exists in India,
Dr. Vandyke Garter says; can castles are
tainted 10y the disease, especially those OF
primary aboriginal descent, and the hill tribes
rs regards social standing, the disease appears
chiefly IN the following classes Native Chris.
IianS, Marathas, OF low caste IIindoos, Mus,
III
known that the disease is extensively prevalent
among the Jews in Syria. Tilbury Fox says ,
The causes OF propagation arc mainly three
fiiS', intermarriagc OF the lcprous, OF with the
lcprousi second, hereditary transmission; third,
incubation and cohabi,ation; fourth, vaccina.
ton w lie speaks Of the disease as esisten,
on the Sandwich Islands, and quotes Dr.
iiillebrand, where the latter gentleman points
to iaets in proof Of contagion. Fox says.
d. Davidson, in speaking Of lcprosy in
Madagascar, remarks. 1T certainly deserves
notice, tina, while the laws of Madagascar
excluded lcprous persons from society, the
disease was kept within bounds, but after tina,
this law was permitted to fall into disusc, |,
has spread to an almost incredible degree.
The natives are also strongly impressed
with the conviction that the disease is inocula.
able. DIR. Bristowc, Examiner in Medicine,
to the Royal College Of Surgeons, ETC., says,
in speaking of leprosyi :" II may be added tina,
certain recent statements in respect to the in.
PRODUCTION Of leprosy into the Sandwich
Islands and into Australia, and its subsequent
spread in those countries assuming them to be
corrcci) go far to establish its communicablity.
Dr. Liveing concludes that, II not contagious
in the ordinary sense OF the word il Is capable
OF propagation by the inhibition Of the excrc,a
OF lepers ); that is by means Of their perspira.
ton and breath. "Leprosy is contagious,
its contagousness demands its isola.
ton, says Pcre j. Eticnne, a Catholic priest,
who has for ten years been connected with a
lcprosery on the Island of Trinidad" (Emcr.
sons Report.) "Our whole theory of ieprosy
rests incontcstably on sad fact, write Daniel.
ssen and Boeck, sit is that within the bounds
where it commits its ravages, i, can be made
harmless to the rest of the people only by so.
lation."
Reverting once again to the theory Of DR..
Fitch, let me quote few opinions from high
medical authority. Tilbury Fox says. "There
is no reason to think that syphilis has any
relation to elephantiass Qeprosy). DR..
Duhring says: There is no connection
between the two diseases"
Doctor Piffard, professor Of dermatology in
the Medical Department of the University of
New York, etc, in speaking of leprosy, says:
" In advanced cases, the diagnosis presents no
difficulty, as the features of the disease are
exceedingly Characteristic | can imagine,
however, that it might be mistaken for syphilis
by those who are in the habit of calling every
severe case of skin disease that they do not
know the name Of, syphilis" Such opinions
are also shared by Carter, Wilson, Danielssen
and Boeck, Mcnamara, Hillebrand, and by
all the physicians here with the exception Of
Dr. Fitch. ALBERT c. SMITH.
Honolulu, April IS, 1883.