The Hawaiian gazette., 1885-10-27


| Journal:
In the transactions of the Medical Society
of the State of California, during the years
1883 and 1884" find paper on "Hawaiian
Leprosy, by A. W. SAKE NJ. D. containing
some statements which l desire TO correct,
since they appear to have been based upon an
imperfect knowledge Of the disease as it occurs
in our islands, and are therefore liable to mis-
lead those gentlemen who are interested in the
subject.
DR.. SAKE says: (page 2l3, Transactions)
"The physicians Of the Hawaiian Islands, long
resident aud of first class abilities and attain
ments, are nearly unanimous in the opinion
that leprosy, is distinct and separate entity,
having nc other relation to syphilis than its
occasional association with il; that il is con-
tagious; that the mode of contagion is peculiar
and unlike that Of any other Of the contagious
diseases"
On page Gl of the Medical Bulletin, March
number, 1883, published in Philadelphia, may
be found the following: REPORT Of case Of
maker, A. NJ, NJ. D. -. 81 am indebted to
Professor Samuel d. Gross for a recent oppor-
tuuity of seeing and examining a young man
suffering from leprosy. The patient was sent
from Honolulu 10 Professor Gross, by Drs.
Hagen and Trousseau, gentlemen who are we'll
known on the Sandwich Islands as expert
practitioners of medicine. The letter of in
PRODUCTION and the description of the patients
condition stated that they believed the case in
question to be one OF leprosy: and as they re-
garded it non- contagious, they had advised
trip to the States for change and benefit 10
his general health, and wished him at the same
time TO have the best medical advice that this
country could give"
From this statement am constrained TO be-
lieye that DR.. SAKE is not correctly informed
in regard to the views Of some at least of the
medical gentlemen of the islands. am still
further strengthened in such belief by the his
tory of DR.. Shoemakers case, which must have
been familiar to Drs. Hagen and Trousseau,
and portion of which quote from the article
in the Bulletin, before mentioned:
as act. 81; wss born in Honolulu, and
had resided there since his birth, with an &C.
casional trip to the States; his parents were
Americans, who had emigrated from New
Hampshire to that island. His occupation was
that Of planter, and he had succeeded in saw
ing sufficient means to enable him to live in
comparative comfort. He stated that he had
led very disspated life until lie was twenty
four years of age, especially in promscuous
intercourse, but had never had any venereal
disease. Eight years ago, having felt poorly
for q time, he noticed dead spot of skin just
above the knee. 1t spread slowly, and was
only about twice as large four years after its
appearance. Six months later he married
native woman, and weak and Puny child was
born within year, which lived but short
time"
l wish TO supplement this history as follows:
The wife of was Of white parentage; she
was a widow, with one child, at the time of
her marriage to . by whom she has had
two children, and neither she nor the child by
either her first or second husband, have devel-
oped leprosy.
/ consider this as strong proof that Drs.
Hagen and Trousseau were justified in writing
to Professor Gross that they regarded leprosy
to be non-contagious.
The professional mentioned above enjoy the
best practice of any physicians in Hawaii, and
have for years been generally considered the
leading physc of the kingdom.
Here let me cite the histories of few cases,
in which some Of not alp of tho persons con-
nected Herewith have come under my own
personal observations:
In A. ID. 1860, man named Nahuaai died
from leprosy His widow, Mele shortly after be-
gan illicit relations with man called Kalalau.
By 1865 Kaalau was pronounced leper, and
was sent to the leper settlement, his wife ac-
companying him. There lie died from leprOsy,
and his widow chose for her second husband
a nurse who was nOn-leprous. but who soon
died from some dropscal affection. HoolOma-
KIM next married man, John Lui by name.
leper, who died in March, 1888, from the dis
ease, leaving Hoolomakini (who still reuains)
non-leprous.
native woman, Kalehaa, las been resi-
dent of the leper settlement for more than SIX
teen years. She went there with her leprous
husband, by whom she had four children. She
tells me that two of her children have the dis
ease, but | never saw them. For the last
eleven years this woman has been the laun-
dress for the hospital at the settlement, wash
ing the pus-saturated garments and bedding
for the inmates, who are cases in the last stages
of the disease.
A woman, Lila by name, has been a resi-
dent of the settlement for upwards of twelve
years. She also accompanied her leprous hus-
band there, and her child by that husband is a
bad case of leprosy. After her husband died
from the disease, she married leper No. 2, and
when lie died, from the same cause, she mar
ried Jeper No. 3, Eli Gordon by name. She
shows no signs of the disease.
Ny family cook, an East Indian, has a lep-
Tous wife: she has had the disease for more
than seven years, and during that time this
man has cooked for several white families
here: he shows no signs of the disease, but it
having become generally known that his wife
has it, lie could obtain no employment, there
fore l engaged him.
Counting the two white women whose his
tories have already been given, thirteen for
eigners, exclusive of Chinese, have come un-
der my observation here, who have maintained
sexual relations with lepers for period ex-
ceeding three years, and not one of these par
ties have contracted the disease.
PER CONTRA.
Exclusive of Chinese, there have come I'm
der my personal observation twenty-five for
eigneTs suffering from the disease. Of these
one man admitted that he had led very licen-
tous life. and probably some of his numerous
mistresses may have been lepers. Another
one informed me that in former years he had
native wife, who was in all probability leper;
and third said that in looking back over the
past he remembered that many years before
he became a leper, he was going from one ISL
and TO another in the South Pacific, and be-
lieved the cook of the vessel must have been
leper. Iu two out of the twenty-five cases |
got no history; but excluding these cases Just
cited, the other seventeen deny ever holding
any communication with leper, and the most
Of them say they never saw leper, know
ingly, until they themselves were declared so.
Upon October 9th, 1881, with the kind as
sistance of Rev. J. Damien, the Catholic priest
at Kaluwao leper settlement, | made careful
census of the number of children who were
born there, and where either one or both pa
rents were leprous previous TO the time of the
birth of the child The total number was
twenty-six, as follows
NAILS. FEMALEs
Both parents Iepsrs. Both parents tepsrg.
., SSaniie; hEv; Name Age.