The Portland daily press., 1896-08-01

1t was not right to strike any one, and
people wore coat Of mail with border
as sign. When the enemy was recon
ciled, the blood of fowls, dogs, and pigs
was mixed with wine, and this delight
1ul decoction was stored In skull for
drinking at the time of taking an oath.
Inc oath was administered with the
words: III you should again revenge
yourself on such person, may your sons
and daughters be bald with leprosy, your
cattle die, and serpents enter your tent. !"
In the Shen-y -kiang. or Book of Mar
vels, of the fifth century, this euro for
leprosy is mentioned: 1.-THE shoots of the
weeping BAN boo if eaton will cure ulcers
and leprosy.''
Superstition of the Chinese still pre-
vailed in the sixth century. A history
of that period tells of a Magistrate whose
Court House and dwelling were burned
TO the ground. He took refuge in mon
astery, and his friends soon sent him an
OK aud some wine. He then caused dias
to be erected, and he sat i'll his official
robes to receive his guests. In the mean
time he caused the OK to be tied to q pill
lar in front of his temporary domicile,
and there the beast was when the people
arrived.
During the festivitis. the OK loosened
its fetters, went before the Magistrate
and bowed. Whereupon he ordered the
animal killed and roasted, and after
bacchanalian feast was at an end, the
host went outside under the ewes of the
structure and slept. He awoke with
frightful itching. Scratching was use
less; he had become leper.s
From this account I deduct that the
effect of Buddhism in leading the Chin
ese to regard the eating of meat rs sin
had already been felt i'll the sixth OOH
fury, and it has now become universal.
DIR. Stephen A. Hunter, now of Pitts
burgh, has given me valuable informa-
tion concerning this disease of the pres
emit day. He Ind long been residens
of Shantung, and will be recognized as
speaking with deserved authority on
medical subjects connected with that
province. At present leprosy prevails in
u.
parts CT Shantung it is an infrequent dis
ease, and where it does exist it is mainly
anaesthetic leprosy. The majority of
cases met with in missionary hospitals
throughout tho province come from the
two procedures named. 1t is not uncom-
mon for villages in Yi-chow-fu to have
several lepers, and from information and
observation draw several conclusions 1t
is remarkable that Confucius's pupil.
Yeppe- nieu, should also have been q
leper in this prefecture. When his mas
ter went to see him he could only take
his hand through the window, for he
would not meet visitors. 1t was the
Chinese Deity suid: He is dying; it is
By heavens decree. Such man to be
visited by such a sickness ~
In the sixth century before Christ, lep-
rosy existed in Yen-ohow-iu and Tsau-
chow-fu. At the present time it scourges
Yen ohow-fu and Yi-ohow-fu. T'sau-
ohow-fu is fifty miles from Yen-ohew-fu
on the southeast, and Yi-chow-fu is the
same distance from the Inst named on
the southeast. This disease, where it is
now found. has probably been there for
more than 2, COO years, aud in that case
heredity must have much to, do with it's
presence there now.
The disease is quite prevalent in Can
ton, and hospital for it's treatment has
been established there. I discovered that
the old Chinese word leprosY is now ap-
II.
diseases. 1t is the thick skinned,
anaesthetic leprosy that prevails in the
south provinces, and this is also the
Cambodian leprosy of fifteen years ago.
In China it may be the result of the con-
quest of Tungking, and the black dis
ease of ancient China would be the scaly
leprosy which may be white or dark.
The Chinese at Shanghai say that
leprosy belongs to the southern quarter
of the empire especially, and that 1t is
caused BY the damp vapors of the noun
tains. Probably the climate Of China
has grown both drier and cooler than it
WAS in the days of Confucius or before.
However, it is developed differently than
in his day. Tt seems to he driven to the
south by the increasing dryness.
DR.. AdinkH follows the progress of
leprosy no further than the Chinese Elm
pire. Other eminent authorities. how
ever, have made exhaustive researches
into it's derivation and progress. They
find that no one disputes that Egypt
gavs origin to the loathsome affection
that has since been Stunned by all man
kind. 1t was first discovered in the delta
and valley of the Nile in 1900 B. 9.
Herodotus knew Of the existence of lepro-
sy in Persia; the earlier Greek and
Latin writers speak of it as foreign
disease, but it became established in
Greece and Italy in the first century B.
G. g
Almost from the beginning it has been
known as incurable, and history does
not record except in legend a single cure
of a genuine cast. From Italy it ravaged
the countries of Europe from the seventh
to the eleventh centuries even scourging
the natives of Norway and England and
Ireland TbOuSauds of IeDer HOSPITALS