The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1892-06-16

Each nun has charge OF certain work, OF
portion of ward. Most of them are old,
wrinkled, and care worn, some coarse and
hard featured. a few younger and more
attractive-yet all are beautiful to see in
their womanly devotion to the helpless,
their lives OF unrequited toll for the good
| of strangers. | am sorry to say that the
hospital statistics show that about one in
seven of all who enter here, debut that
is not a large average, considering the
deadliness of the climate to foreigners,
and the fact that if We're it not for the
''Holy House the other six would proba-
bly, find graves at Caju. Yellow fever,
the frightful scourge of Rio, resembles
the cholera in India in this respect-that
you may be perfectly well one day, and
not only dead. but buried the next In
bad seasons the death rate is not consider
ed unusually high at POO per day; and in
favorable times at least two thirds of all.
who are attacked with it. recover. Since
its first appearance here. nearly half IL
visit. The dlier the summer. the worse
the fever: and in very dry years it always
takes an epidemic form. Naturally, for
cigners suffer from it much worse than
the natives: but the latter make up for
their comparative exemption by suffering
terribly from smallpox, leprosy, ele-
phantiasis, and other terrible diseases.
Cases of contagious diseases are not
treated at the Misericortiia, but are sent
to one OF another OF the branch hospitals
Lepers 90 to the Hospital dos Lazaros. at
san Christavao; and smallpox people to
the refuge at Gamboa, which is dedicated
to Nossa Sonhora da Saude.
About the strangest and most loath-
some disease have heard of is that called
'elephantiasis, the name being derived
from the enormous tumors which it causes
to arise on the lower limbs. making the
distended flesh hang down in flaps and
circular folds, like the legs of an elephant.
Notwithstanding the popular belief that
the horrible deformity is contagious, one
may often meet on the streets Of any
Brazilian city a man OF woman dragging
along a leg swollen to many times its
proper proportions, OF sitting on a church
view as plea for charity Many years
ago the Count OF Cunha transformed an
old Jesuit convent into a hospital for the
especial treatment of elephantiasis. 1t
was placed under the supervision of the
Irmandade do Santissimo Sacramento and
to this day remains in their care 1t is
said that the average number of their
patients is 100 Il year, and that at least
nine tenths of them die Some time ago
a Rio doctor claimed to have discovered
that the clephantiasis of Brazil was the
cured by the bite of a rattle snake. He
awakened public attention to his theory
| by publishing several learned ,IisQusitions
and at length was given i'm opportunity of
putting it to practical test An educated
gentleman in the Sacramento hospital
WHO ut the age OF fifty had been afflicted
with the disease six years, became anxious
| to submit himself to the hazardous ex-
pertinent. y day was fixed for it. and
| the physicians and friends assembled to
witness the experiment. The serpent was
| brought IN cage, and into this the
patient, confident of speedy cure. thrust
his hand. At first the reptile seemed to
| shrink from the contact. as if afraid OF
contracting the disease: and when ''stirred
up little, though rafting loudly, mere
| ly licked the hand without biting it, AT
| length the impatient invalid pinched the
serpent hard and received a thrust from
his fangs near the base of the little finger.
A few drops OF blood oozed from the
wound, and slight swelling appeared.
when the hand was withdrawn from the
| cage; but no pain was felt. Moments OF
intense anxiety followed, while it remained
to be seen what effect this disayreeable
medicine would produce 1t soon became
evident that the disease which had pre-
occupied the system retarded the natura
result; but in twenty hours the man was
dead. FANNIE b. WARD