Newport weekly independent., 1901-11-22
CANCER Isl CONTAGIOUS.
\ Fact That Is Becoming substan- tinted by Weu Authenticated
 Instances.


 The theory tAat the disease of can. cer may, thyough certain media, prove itself hfectious is one which is meeting With Considerable atten- ltion in non hedi4al as well as in med iical circlesf ana the conviction is gradually jsp1eading that houses, elnd mord Particularly individual oooms, mjy bfcomc infected with the plOerms of this fearful malady, says he Lond ion Express.
 .4 TSnssac distances are constantly ao 45eing cite4 in support of such an as- sumption, land one of the most telling which at present has come before our notice isl that of two women con- tracing <the disease after occupying housq wherein four or five years previouely cancer patient had died. The remarkable part of this story IS thai third lady who had resided m th3 house between these two ten anc4gs also developed the illness after nTooterval of close upon two years. torxk I learn whether such instances commonly recognized in the med .on' profession, or whethar they are Deen ely isolated examples to which no IGralcular importance may be att Il d an Express representative vis- ioio several cancer specialists the 9fh var day. A~4nen, wthe cancer hospital in Fulham A Subject. v" days rbelieve," observed the house sur am. 2, cautiously, 'that cancer is awa,o regarded as contagious in med- mo,,al circles"
 "A well-known specialist, however, lIo has devoted many years to an exhaustive study of the subject, was more inclined to wave the profession- Hl etiquette which disallows a con- " versatioA with a layman upon mat ters medical.
 T should be only too pleased" he said, If this matter should receive the attention at the hands of the public which it undoubtedly deserves. For my own part, I am fully con- vlnced that cancer, without being es- sentially contagious disease, may under certain circumstances prove it. self infectious. Whether this view IS generally entertained am not pre-, pared to state. Nevertheless I have no hesitation ill asserting that before many years have passed precautions ary measures will be adopted in the case of cancer patients, as they un- doubtedly will in the case of con. ss,Ynptives
 Se.efe is nothing at all remark sued toin the instances you refer to. Neeley few weeks back my attention frop,s directed to the case of youpp apparently healthy girl, who de- ,agped cancerous troubles after sleeping in room wherein her mother had some years back suc- cumbed to the disease This migbt possibly be an herditary case, though the likelihood is considerably dis counted by the fact that a third woman who occupied the room also contracted the malady.
 such instances are becoming far too common to be disregarded Thor ough disinfection would probably be an effective remedy, Enough it is nec- essary in the first instance to trace the actual causes of infection"
 From a seaside resort comes a re- port of family who stayed for q few weeks at a house wherein a woman had died from cancer about a year previously. A girl who occupied the patients bedroom subsequently developed cancer, not trace of which had hitherto existed in the family.
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