The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-07-09

of diseases. There Is pau ecAS1ia nS.
tween ali OF the holes; 1t is mixed up
with the leprosy, and this causes Joy 70
suffer udtold agony don see noW ans ny
man can stand the pam ne enqurss aqenss snfs ne
fering His is a peculiar case. we can
do nothing to relieve him. everything
from to 2. in the nature ;r OF pi,s pi,s dna h,i
with no effect. All the OILS recommenuiea isl
for use in cases of leprosy oniy MAKE
hun WORSE There Is only It 9ns a and taat
is very little good to him. There is no
danger in keeping him where he is, as
while leprosy is an infectious disease, II
Nearly a dozen local surgeons have vis-
tied Joy and most of them nave hau an an
opinion to express regarding tns ne edse. na.
not come out boldly and said that II IS an
aggravated case of leprosy. He holds tnat
it is severe case OF eczema, n; rs .he onlir only
other leper found in Hudson county, un-
til his death by strangulat1on, caused py
the disease affecting the nerves OF lhe
throat nearly two years ago, was seen py
q News" reporter regarding joys case.
II have not examined him, he said, put
I understand that It is a very aggravated
case of leprosy. He is in worse stage
of the disease than Sam Sing was at the
time of his death. Joy is repulsive look
ing, while there was nothing repulsive
S'SS Speaking of the nature of the disease
DR.. Converse said: Fox declares that the
disease is not contagious L ! disagree
yInMy With hi nsre the sae as 'a1
Getting back to the subject of Joy he
that that an number Of doctors have been to
have look at him.
DR.. George H. Fox, one of TIL highest
authorities on .Nprosy, in a recent IN
teryiew said
IN all my experience have never heard
of single case of contagion from this
disease in this climate. All the cases
which are discovered have been contract
ed in South American or Asiatlc coun-
tries, There are half dozen or more
such cases in New York City at the pres
ent day and the victims of the disease go
about their daily vocations and live with
their. families without fear of injecting
anybody. as they have been told that there
was no danger of their doing so. One of
these is a lawyer conspicuous in local
life, who contracted the disease in a mild
form while teaching school in South
America
"The greatest danger to my mind from
leprosy is the horror with which the ma
jority of the public views. it. An edu-
Gated man who contracts it usually gets
the impression that he win suffer hor-
rible death from it, and that there. is
positively no hope of recovering from it,.
form and their. condition has improved
from time to time The disease too, is
not SO repulsive as is ordinarily sup
p0SSed The danger Of eontagiqn a from n
infinitely greater than leprosy, and yet
we have hundreds of these cases day
after day."
Dr.. Prince A. Morrow. another author
ity and author of a book on leprosy. was
interviewed on the same occasion. He
agreed with DR.. Fox that there is no
tagion. He added:-"The means of con-
tagion of leprosy are very mysterious,
and physicians have not been able to
discover just exactly how it is communi-
Gated. To my mind the contagion is
governed by climatic conditions, and the
climate of this locality, and. in fact, that
BILE for the propagati ton of the disease
The general medical authorities describe
leprosy as an infectious disease of
brances. and frequently by infiamatory
LESSONS of the nervous system. A specific
micro-organism. the bacillus leprae. is
constantly present,
Leprosy was known to the ancients
Hippocrates called it Lepra. It was also
known as elephantiasis. It is spoken of
in the Bible as Zaraath With the fall
of Rome knowledge of the disease disap-
peared. After the eigth century the dis
ease reappeared upon the European con-
tinent, the crusaders returning from the
East being chiefly instrumental in its
spread. The twelfth and fifteenth CEN
turies witnessed it's greatest prevalence.
In modern days we find its geographical
distribution to be quite extensive. In
India, Norway and Sweden New Bruins
wick Mexico and the Sandwich Islands
the disease is common. A quarter of a
million 1epers are said to exist in the
first mentioned country. In America
foreigners, especially along the coast
regions On the Pacific Coast it prevails
almost exclusively among the Chinese
Or the eastern shore of North America
Tracadie. New Brunswick. The germs of
leprcsy have been successfully inocculated
in to Hawaiian criminals. The disease IS
believed to be contagious, but the metnod
readily communicable is shown by the
infreauency with which nurses of the
afflicted are affected. The most frequent
age of infection or deveiopment appears
cases occur until the age of fcrty-eight
when the disease diminishes in frequency
Leprosy is very insidious in It's onset.
The most superficial tissues are most fire.
auenfiy aue t'f involved primarily. Preeed-
Ing Ing the development of tubercuar
leprosy there IS period OF a year or
more in which symptoms sinuiatlng lnose
Of intermittent fever occur. In some
cases there is a discoloration of the skin
which leaves a white spot; in other cases
there is a brownish discoloration. Noduies
develop which gradually become .ssaa rnnhs n'ara
some Of these ulcerate and soon disap-
near and new growth appears upon. the
parts most exposed as the faSe, ace i,inn' nands
able Only one case has ever been report
Cd cured Removing from an epidemic
centre and best surroundings Tor the pa
tient assist in retarding the progress OF
the disease Good food, fresh air and
fhe internal use of oils give the best re-
suits. -.
covered in this vicinity waS that of Fred
eric Fleming, a homeless German, who
lived in cheap lodging houses on the. Bow
erv. New York. He complained of feel
ing Ill on September II last and was TAX
en- to Belleville Hospital where the start
lirg discovery was made that he was suf-
fering from leprosy in its most pro-
ncunced form. At the time the disease
was discovered upon him Fleming had
he had been in the United States three
wears He had worked as a baker when
ever he got the opportunity. He spent
most of the time tramping through North
Carolina and never knew the nature of
the disease he was suffering from He
member when the signs Of the, disease
first began to appear. He worked for
seventeen years at his trade in Brazil,
and said he got the disease there. There
are FIVE lepers now under the care OF the
fined in pavilion on North Brothers
island which was erected during the ty-
pbus epidemic in 1893 The pavilion is so
feet long and 20 fet wide. The lepers are
limited to a space OF 80 square yards.
Al second interview was had with DR..
Converse this morning in which he went
more fully into the subject Sam Sing
he said. was confined at Snake HILL
August 1893 until his death in the latter
part of 1885. He died from spasms caused
by the disease
DIR. Tilbury. Fox, the eminent British
authority on leprosy, said the doctor
says positively that the disease. is not