The Western news., 1903-01-14
CURE FOR LEPROSY.
Experiments In Honolulu With q
South American Plant.
The Remedy IL . Singular Growth
Found I'm Venezuela Known a. the
Tua-Tua Shrub-Its Wonder
full Properties.

Medical men all over the world are
interested in the reports from Homo
lulu and Tahiti of successful results
obtained in the treatment of leprosy
from the active principle Of the tua-
tua shrub. The tua-tna's scientific
name Is Jatrapha gossypifolia, and it
comes from Venezuela, says the San
Francisco Chronicle. Nearly three
years ago the depa rtment of agricul-
ture sent 27 of the tua-tua plants to
DR.. Carmichael, United States marine
hospital surgeon, then at HonoluIu,
but now here. The plants were set
out in the experiment station grounds
in Honolulu, where they fourished,
waEen green, and produced many buds
With the plants came statements from
Venezuela that leprosy had been sue
cessfully treated with the extract.
The shrub is called in Venezuela
frailejon purge, on account of its
purging qualities.
DR.. c. E. Camp, assistant in the
meteorological laboratory of the
board of health Of Hawaii, has been
experimenting on lepers in Honolulu
ever since the receipt of the shrub.
The direct effect of the medicine is to
reduce the frightful swellings which
distigure the features of the lepers,
and which distort their extremeties.
ln-Tahiti really wonderful advance
toward the cure Of leprosy has been
achieved by the use of the shrub, but
in Hawaii it has been difficult to in
duce the lepers to undergo the treat
ment. The use of the medicine is gem
orally accompanied by severe colics,
and the kanakas will not submit to the
pain. even though promise is held out
of partial cure of their terrible af-
Fiction. The fact is that leprosy
among the Hawaiians is not looked
upon with the horror that it possesses
for Americans and Europeans, and
save for the isolation on Moiokai,
which leprosy entails upon it's victims,
the latter show little disposition to
do anything to ameliorate their physi-
cal condition. The leperS are free to
accept or refuse treatment, and cam
not be forced to take the medicine
A Portuguese in Honolulu, who had
leProsy, was given the tua-tua, and, ac-
cording to DR.. Camp, shows absolutely
no symptoms of the disease now
Curiously enough the boa rd of health
OF Hawaii is seemingly unwilling to
and Dr. Camp in his experiments. or
even to permit him to treat those lep-
ers under the care of the boa I'd. Presi-
dent Sloggett, of the board, when
asked as to this, said: "The board of
health OF Hawaii has invariably turned
down requests to be allowed to ex-
pertinent with leprosy cures. We have
done this because the owners of cures
were invariably proprietors of patent
nostrums, who hoped to sell their man
ufactures by getting the Endorsement
of the board. We, of course, would
be pleased to see the discovery of some
cure of leprosy, but l doubt that any
such cure will ever be found l have
no faith in the tua-tua remedy"
The newspapers Of Honolulu have
taken the matter up, and in vigorous
terms have urged that the board of
health give DR.. Camp every opportu-
nifty for Investigating the merits of
the tua-tua. Certainly with more than
/ 900 lepers in confinement in the is~
lands it is worth while doing every
thing possible to find a check for the
terrible scourge.