The Alaska citizen., 1911-03-27

p8rfmcnt of Tulane University of this CitE and the experiments made With baeilli shed a great deal of new light on the origin, spread and con 'agiou of lcprosy and promise as an CIrir result a serum that will give prp.coti II against the disease
 In the worldwide investigation which has been carried on for years into the nature of lcprosy physicians in Louisiana have had an import ant part. They have had good op- portunitigs for research because the state maintains a lepcr hospital at Indian Camp in lherville parish. No where has greater progress been made in the cN'ermination and cure of leprosy
 The diseas" was very prevalent in Louisiana in Spanish and French days Then nothing was done but 10 chase the lepers into the swamps ia teTrc dcs loprcauX. as fl was call cd. Even after the civil war a very largo colony of lepers was collected on tho leveos or sWampy portions of Pay.u Lafourche and in several sections of the ACadian country in southern Louisiana.
 Twenty wears ago the 1cpcr hospi- ral was established and a law passed $. erega.ing thc }eperS and compell- ing them tn go t0 the lcpor home Much difficulty was encountered at first in cuf-rcing he law through mi sakcu sEmp3thE with the lepers but lc home was made so comfort able thai the prejudice against it has passed away. and fl has latter " received all persons found 10 be affected with the disease. In this way lcpro-v has gradually been elim- mated in Io0i-iana and new cases are rare. numbering not more than one or two a year.
 Some for.r ..ntrs are now gath cred 9, Indian Camp and all except few are steadily improving in health. Thro. years ago Dr. Isa- dorc Dvar. inc physician of tho home and nun of nc hes authorities on lcproos in the world announced that four f Inc inmates have been dismissed as cured
 The treatment has been simple ,nongh. consisting of go~d living con Ii'iOn~. good food frequent hot baths and few of the medicines recogui2ed a. beneficial 10 lepers. Al thc present rate of progress an other ten wars will probably see rhe end Cf icu~osy in Louisiana through fhe care of the mildcr cases and the death If the few patients in whom the disease has progressed loo far for effective treatment
 While this work of treating and curing leprosr was being carried on the Ghveicians have been investi- eating the disease itself to learn is cauec. fo discover is bacillus and to find serum that would cure or prevent if. This invcsligaticn has hccn conducted in q dozen different parts of the world, hut under most favorable conditions in LouiSi"ra where alone in this country inc disease can be studied at first hau !.
 From time to time discoverle% have ben made A matter of fac there has been very strong dis position 10 accept inc conclusion of Dr. Jonathan HHtchiSon of Eugland. presented by him 10 the Internation- al l.oprOlOgist convention of 1890. held at Berlin, that uncooked or nutrid fish was inc means by which 1cnr0sy was transmitted to man. This fact vas apparently demon srra'cd by all the conditions under which the GiSoase prevails. leprNsy being restricted tO peoples living on the coast, whose principal diet is fish, especially raw or more or less putrid.
 But while this theory was eener- ally accepted it was not scientifical- ly proved This Drs. Duval and Couret have finally demonstrated, and the proof will call fer some ex- rcrimentatiou Cnly to provide the serum.
 The germ Cf Icprosy is said to have been discovered as far back as the '70s. and its discovery has been announced from time to time since, but the experiments were never car ried to a conclusion. II was found impossible 10 isolate and cultivate the germ and therefore 10 provide serum Now the experiment has been carried to it's full limit and the remedy ought to be soon in sight.
 Drs. Duval and COuret experiment cd with fish, mainly goldfish. They found that the germ rapidly spread among them and the fish showed no had effects and sWam as com fowably as their brethren Isolatins the germ they found it very l"ne living and through their discoveries learned the manner in which the malady is prOpaeated,
 The habitat of the germ is not he human body, that is, the disease does not Oriainate in man and is not hereditary, as has often been believed The human body is not well adapted to it and the germ mul- tiples very slowly in it; in other words the disease is not easily con- municated to man, as is generally believed.
 Most animals are safe from if, and this facts puts the investeatCrs to a great deal of trouble. Guinea pigs and rabbits. the usual stand bvs of the laboratory in exDeri- ments of this kind were found to be immune The leprosy germs in them died the moment after injec- tion and left no infection Experi- ments with monkeys and mice prov cd more successful. In man tho progress of the disease was found to be very slow indeed, but in fish very rapid.
 The conclusion reached was that the original habitat of the disease was fish and that it was communicate | ed originally to man by eating in i fected fish. With the isolation of | the germ it was possible to carry the much further. The germ |