Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-16
CAUSE OF LEPROS Y
FISH DIET SAID TO BE GENESIS
OF THE DISEASE.
Revival Of Theory Current in the
Middle Ages-Investigation
In India.
rom the New York Commercial, Advertiser.

From the New York Commercial Advertiser.
An eminent English scientist, Dr. Hutch
inson of the Royal Society. has for some
time been making a careful investigation
Of the probable genesis of leprosy. This in
vestigation was carried on In India, from
which country DIR. Hutchinson has lately
returned. The full report of his conclusions
has not yet been published: but 1t is said
that he holds to the belief that continued
diet Of fish, especially of fish that is de-
cayed, is a predisposing cause of this terri
BILE disease
If this report be true, Dr. Hutchinson is
giving the weight of his deservedly high au-
thority to theory which is as old at least
as the middle ages. and which specialists
in dermatology have, until now, branded
as baseless superstition The medieval
writer's often speak of a fish diet as bring
Ing on leprosy. Bernhardus Gordon. in his
Lilium Medicinae, declares that milk and
f1sh. when eaten together, cause the dis
ease; and this notion has never been eradi-
Gated from popular belief down to the pres
ent day in spite of the contempt in which 1t
has been held by the medical profession.
Distribution Of Leprosy.
A not uninteresting coincidence is to be
noted in the fact that In countries which
are in general free from leprosy 1t does
occur in the coast districts, where fish nat:
urally forms the staple diet Of the popula-
ton. Thus, in Europe, there are native
iepers In Iceland, on the Russian sfol es OF
the Baltic, along the French coast of Prov
ence and In the Mediterranean islands
Leprosy is also to some extent endemic in
western Norway. In North America it oc-
ours among the French Canadians of New
brunswick and Nova Scotia, with whom
fishing is the principal Industry and the
principal source of their food supply. Even
IN continents and countries where the dis
ease Is common its victims are more nu-
merous among the fish eaters. as upon the
western coast of Africa: and, in Asia
throughout the islands Of the Indian ocean.
DR.. Hutchinson's Report.
Therefore. DR.. Hutchinson's full report
Will be awaited with great interest, not
only by members of the medical profession
put by laymen also. The very name of
ieprosy inspires so much dread. and the
lmpossibility of its cure is so we'll establish
ca, mat any clear light upon it's causes
must be of value in preventing its spread
investigators have so far done compare
lively little in this field. Even the question
as to whether the disease is contagious
OF not is sui unsettled, though the drift
or the best medical opinion regards it as
being so. DR.. Gardner, in 1887, published
an account of a successful transmission of
leprosy by incubation. 1t was a singular
case of which he told
An English physician living in the West
indies. actually vaccinated his own son.
and also European playmate of his son.
with virus obtained from a leprous native
cniid. Both OF the patients afterward de-
veloped leprosy. The bacillus of leprosy
has been discovered by Hansen; but per-
haps the only useful knowledge that we
nave regarding leprosy from the medical
SIDE is the assurance that personal cleanli-
ness and varied diet insure immunity
from possible contagion, and may overcome
even the predisposition to the disease which
exists In those whose ancestors have suf-
tered from it. For that leprosy is not strict
Iy hereditary in the usual sense of the
word, was practically established by Vir-
chow long ago.
The Malady in Hawaii.
The practical interest which the subject
possessions in the Pacific ocean. Hawaii,
as every one knows, is a hotbed of this dis
ease; and the proximity of the Philippines
to southern China. where it prevails to a
terrible extent, ought to insure great vigil
lance on the part of our immigration agents
everywhere. Australia. whose climate is
temperate. and where leprosy was unknown
among Europeans fifty years ago, is now
suffering from the negligence and careless
ness of its former officials Chinese immi-
grafton has spread the disorder to such an
extent that the native Australians are be-
ginning to be seriously alarmed. 1t must
be remembered that climate alone has little
to do with the propagation of leprosy or
in checking its spread. Even in England,
prior to the fifteenth century, every large
town had it's leper house; while in France
in the year 1896 there were not less than
1900 hospitals and retreats for lepers. No
disease known to the modern world is so
hideous; and as communication between all
countries is becoming less and less difficult
with each year that passes, intelligent men
should give thought to the dangers well