The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1901-11-05

markablc and shows that even If hope
/ is being deferred, the leper is in some
ways as susceptible to the foibl,s and
SdnitIos of life as are any of MS.
There were 800 lepers and i64 clean per-
sons al the settlement at the time OF
our visit. OF the clean persons. sixty
seven were Kokuas or helpers, /. e., per-
/ sons who feed and take care of helpless
lcpers; nineteen We're in the admnistra-
| tive department including the superin-
/ tcndent, his assistant. the Catholic
brothers and sisters and servants, and
seventy-eight were non-leprous children
of lepcrs. | inquired particularly into
the chances of infection of these clean
people with leprosy while in the dis
/ chargt. of their various duties. The gem
eral opinion was that in time they would
become lepers 1t was not possible to
obtain any statistics on this point, as
these clean people are coming and going
all of the time ] was informed. how
ever, that in the last ten years only ten
clean residents have became lepers, and
that at the present time there were no
lcpers At the settlement belonging to this
class. The precautions of certain mem
beis of the visiting party prior to land
ing, together with the absolute lack OF
precaution ON part of others. attract
ed my attention. Not believing ii to b,
WISE " opthi tilt ids P'iSohs
surely and things almost surely, infect
ed with leprosy., and knowing that from
the amount of horseback riding that
would be done the chances of new abra-
sions on the hands would be increased,
| drew on a pair of gloves, and l noticed
about one-third of the party doing the
same thing.
II noticed that several men whom ]
knew would be exposed. especially during
the day, did not wear gloves. On asking
them why they went with bare hands,
they stated that the risk for them was
small. but that we with gloves were apt
to forget and rub our noses or eyes with
out removing our gloves, while they were
being reminded continually OF their in
iected bare hands. | mention this to
show that while the relatively small
number OF cases of leprosy among the
white population in the Hawaiian Islands
must prove In measure that to thls
class OF persons the disease Is only mild
ly contagious. the fear that some mem
be,s of our party had of even touching
their noses or eyes with infected gloves
demonstrated how little Is actually
known of the contagiousness OF this dis
ease from a practical point of view; this
too on the part of persons who have
been handling leprosy for the past tif-
, teen or twenty years,
RESULT OF EXPOSURE.
The results of known exposure TO lep-
rosy are interesting and show an uncer-
tainty as to the chances of individual in
feCtion which to my mind make this dis
ease one of the most difficult TO operate
against. For instance, / saw one leper
at the settlement, white man, whose
face was already markedly iniiltrated.
who claims to have received his Infection
! from a hoe which he took for q moment
from the hands of his native who was
cleaning up his yard, which man he saw
at once was leper. He was carpenter
by trade. and always had a certain num-
Der of abrasions on his hands. He de-
vcloped lcprosy shortly after this occur
renee. On the other hand, there is said
TO be n man on the Island of Maui who
lived fifteen years with his leper wife,
and had fourteen children by her, neither
he nor the children ever developing lep-
rosy. Women are said to be less liable
to the disease there being many cases
of women having two or three husbands,
and these latter, although previously
clean, falling victims TO leprosy; the
women remaining clean until after the
menopause, when the disease supposed
by some to have been in the meanwhile
dormant. showed itself
AS an example of the length of time
which a person may spend In intimate
contact with leprosy without acquiring
it, the history OF the leper martyr. Faith
er Damien, is very interesting.
/ Father Damien. Belgian, of good
physique, age thirty-four years, arrived
at the settlement in 1874 He was per-
fectly well until 1884. when pains in the
left foot were complained of. Believing
II to be only rheumatism, he consulted
DE- Arning, who diagnosed II at once as