Evening star., 1898-09-20
AN ANCIENT sCOURGE,
Some Countries where the Drended
LeProsy Still Prevails.
tha Mail

Leprosy stiIl Prevails.
From the London Mail.
Few things offer more satisfactory food
for reflection than the banishment of lep-
rosy from the British islands. Its ravages
are now for the most part confined to the
great oriental population, but In medieval
England the disease assumed gigantic pro-
portions.
Leprosy is believed to have existed In
Egypt as early as 1900 B. c. Herodotus
knew of it In Persia and the early Chinese
writer's refer to the disease.
1t Is improbable that leprosy afflicted
early Greece and Rome, as the ancient
writer's of these countries Invariably speak
OF 1t as foJ eign disease. It. however, ap-
peared in both countries in the first GEN.
tury before Christ. and accompanied the
Roman colonists into Spain. Gaul and
Italy.
In England leper or lazar house was
e es stahllshed in Canterbury in A. D. 1896.
The crusades are credited with being an
important agent in the dissemination of
this terrible disease. for during this period
1T made rapid strides throughout Europe
In 1226 We hear of the existence of 1000
ieper hospitals in France alone.
The number of leper houses in Europe
was estimated by Mathew Paris at the
terrible total of 1900 while it is certain
tiidt uetWeeH tTe HTSC ieper mouse pullt ana
the year 1412 no less than 112 institutions
were built in this country. The leper houses
OF the middle ages were for the most part
religious. and dedicated to st. Lazarus. In
the the EYE OF the law the ieper was dead;
The church adopted the same view and
read the burial service to the poor unfor-
tunate on the day of his removal to the
lazar house. This was perhaps scarcely
less charitab BILE than the modern act of
reading the burial service to a condemned
man on the scaffold, but the church in
those days went further-it threw a SHOW
elful of earth over the poor wretch as a
symbol of the grave that was yawning for
him.
The lepers wore a special costume, usual
ly long gray gown with a hood drawn
over the face. Instead of the heartrending
Jewish cry, "Unclean, unclean." the med
iaeval leper announced his approach by
means of wooden clappers.
From the year 1920 there was a decided
decrease in the number of lepers in Eng
land. commission appointed in the reign
or Edward Nv reported that few laperS re-
NAMED in any of the lazar houses. Be
fore Henry VIII came to the throne lep-
rosy had practically disappeared, and Italy
and France saw the last of the Scourge
about the same time.
In Norway, Ireland and Russia a trace of
this medieval blight is found today, while
it fingered in the Shetland Isles until the
close of the last century Rare cases are
also found in Portugal, Spain, Turkey and
Greece at the present time. While the dis
ease was thus dying out of Europe isolation
was everywhere strictly enforced.
Leprosy followed the Chinese immigra-
ton into America. appearing as far east as
Chicago. In South Africa and Australia it
is encountered. The disease was carried
into the Sandwich Islands in 1850, and has
been spreading with alarming activity. 1t
is rampant in the Hawaiian Islands, where
the immortal Father Damien went to min
lister relief to the lepers, and who by his
death has left a monument Of devotion
that will last for all time.
1t is curious fact that leprosy among
the lower animals is unknown, and this
renders any demonstration of the bacillus
extremely difficult
In man, however, the disease has been
communicated in this manner Keanu,
Hawaiian criminal. preferred having a por-
ton of leprous tubercle grated beneath
the skin of his left arm rather than suffer
death on the scaffold Members of keanus
family were leprous, but he himself had
given no indication of the disease. In six
months leprosy developed, and in six years
the man was dead.
The cause of the disease is little known,
but qualified observers believe it to be
strongly hereditary Some think that fish
food, especially when salted or decom-
posed, is the main cause of its origin. Dirt
and bad sanitation are of course, favor
able to its growth. But whatever the
cause, let US be thankful for its departure
from these islands.