Omaha daily bee., 1916-03-23
Health HINTS Fashions =: Womams Work Household Topics
Hope for
the Leper
ny WOODS HUTCHINSON. VI. n.
nansr

ny WOODS HUTCHINSON, VI. y.
PART I.
Occasionally a proverb happens TO he
true. That famous old chestnut about the
argontic endederm OF the cumulo-nimbus--
the silver lining OF the storm clouds
not such a mere fizurc Of speech Of tho
cheer up the worst IL yet TO come"
order as might be supposed Sometimes
the silver is only lunar caustic instead
OF real IS to ! electroplate but often it
Is the genuine plata" OF the spaniards,
our plate" out Of which birth-spoons
ARE made.
We have had most curious double
Illustration OF this cheering paradox Just
recently in REGARD to the last devolop-
mcnts In that scourage OF the middle
ages and plague cf barbarlsm-leprosN
only few weeks ago the speciali5,r
and experts who had assembled at
WASHINGTON 20 urge tho passage OF that
humane and most necessary hill for the
establishment Of q national leprosarium
assured US OF the disuuieting fact thlt
we had nearly SO lepers at large in these
United States
In the very same month. almost the
sumc week. comes the report from DR..
Victor IIeser, the brilliant and devoted
director OF public health in The Phillip
nice. that cure had apparently been
discovered thofc for lcprosy. or at lcas-
remedy which produces most hopeful
results in a considerable proportion OF
cases. chaulmoogro oil.
This encouraging news is a strong nd
ditionpl argument for the estabhshmcnt
J nf u,ftt "a ,la 20
advantages or protection for the rest OF
the community aud the kindest treat
ment and most comfortable life possible
FOR these poor unfortunates. the hopeful
, possibility OF cffectlng O cure In fair
percentage OF them.
Incidentally it may be remarked as an
other sllvery gleam that while 500 lepers
at large is believed 90 be an over-state-
ment rather than an underestimate In
asmuch as there are only about 200 known
cases. and 50 per cent OF these are IN
/ colonies or hospitals yet so slow Is the
disease In spreading under civilized CON
ditions that the whole OF these 90 arc not
4 as great an actual menace to the national
health Rs fifty "third-stage." or ad-
vanced, cases OF tuberculosis.
Though hundreds OF cases have been
/ brought into this country by Immigrants
from Norway and Sweden and from
tropical America. and by sailors and
other visitors from the far east and frs n
northern Africa. practically scarcely
single case Is on record Of the catchng
or development OF the disease on our
American soil. outside OF two small ma
tive leprosy areas. where the disease
gained foothod nearly 300 years ago.
one In New Brunswick and the other In
Louisiana. now numbering about forty
In the north and about ninety In tho
south, both among the same Norman
French people, poverty-stricken fisher
men and scratch farmers. and both de-
minlshing In numbers
The new probable cure reported from
the Philippines Is not 80 much the dis
covery OF new remedy as new and
greatly improved form OF application OF
an old one. chaulmoogra OIL This 10 an
aromatic vegetable oil OF Oriental origin,
which for many years past has had a
: considerable reputation both popular and
scientific as cure for the miider forms
OF leprosy. st
Many of the severer forms would also
be considerably improved by It. but the
great obstacle to It's use In advanced
cases was Its pungent, nauseating taste
and It's irritating effect upon the stom-
ach, which increased rather than dinnln-
ished with continued use. so that In most
cases II was physically Impossible 70 re-
tain the dose or continue the treatment
after a few weeks, or at most q month
or so.
So that just about the time the system
was getting sufficiently saturated TO con.
troll the disease in an advanced case the
use OF the remedy had 10 be abandoned