Modern Indian leprosy : being the report of a tour in Kattiawar, 1876 : with addenda on Norwegian, Cretan and Syrian leprosy.

  • Carter, H. V. (Henry Vandyke), 1831-1897.
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Modern Indian leprosy : being the report of a tour in Kattiawar, 1876 : with addenda on Norwegian, Cretan and Syrian leprosy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    at last driven away, but when their images were broken up, a man died in the town for each one so broken : then the disease stopped. Another explanation of this epidemic is the spread of cholera along the route of a ‘ jatra’ from Bombay to the Palitana shrines, when many pilgrims and others died. Five years ago there were 6 lepers here : there were 2 Kolis and a Brahman amongst them, who died 10 or 12 years ago ; also a Bajput woman (20 years) and a barber (30 years) formerly in this plaoe : nothing further known. The com- plaint is increasing by common testimony. Cases seen :— 1. —M., Rajput, 30, labourer, born here and resident, has travelled a little : leprosy for 4 years ; it began in cold wea- ther, with swellings on body which have subsided, then on face and hands where they now remain. T. L. and much bronz- ing on face. There are marks on the back of a faded eruption : nipples enlarged : hands bronzed : nails of little and ring fingers of right hand deformed ; no marked numbness : feet in a similar state ; nails here much deformed ; bronzing : no numbness : great toes absorbed a little. F. dead, free : mother died 12 years ago of leprosy ; she was ‘ sati’ on her husband’s death, and had been a leper for a year : he is an only son : has an older sister here and well. His mother’s j brother (maternal uncle) had the disease and died at Datta 10 years ago, ait. 30, and having had T. L. for 10 years. No later taint admitted, but the man allows some other leper ancestor was mentioned by his father. Is married ; wife free : has a son of 4. Contact denied : cause not known : lived as usual and was working here, when the disease came on : it is stationary : lives apart, no sores ; general condition fair: no loss of muscular power. 2. —M., Bhawa, 50, beggar, born at Pasn-i, here 10 years, has wandered about: leprosy for 4 years ; had first a red eruption, followed by swelling of face and hands. T. L. well marked on face: skin of back, of deep-red tint, and seem- ingly thickened with scattered nodules: nipples enlarged, and hair scanty in front. No numbness. F. dead, free ; M. alive and free, and denies all.taint; 3 brothers, he is the second son; an older sister is dead, 2 younger alive and well. Is married, wife well; no son ; 3 daughters—one (25) half mad, one of 18 mad, one of 5 dumb : his wife has taken to opium- eating from grief, and the younger child now consumes opium. Denies contact with other lepers: origin of disease unknown, except it followed indulging in mango-juice and sugar, made hot ; this feast occurred at a marriage festival at Ivutpar, and the swellings, &c., followed immediately on his return home. Disease spreading : he is not separated ; no sores : general condition fair. The mental affliction of his own family has no apparent connection with his leprosy. 3. —F., Rajput, born at Deogam, 20 coss off, here for 25 years, has not travelled ; leprosy 4 years ; there were first pink spots on the body, followed by swellings of face. On face T. L. not very marked, but clear ; on trunk a few scat- tered nodules and hands bronzed; nails unchanged; no numbness : feet in same state, one swollen but not benumbed ; she still does her house work. There are scattered nodules in the skin. Parents dead, free : 2 younger brothers, well: 3 sisters, 1 older, all well; no family taint: husband dead, was well: a son of 20, well (another died as an infant), and 2 girls of 15 and 10. Contact denied : cause not known, was living as usual and at home here, when the disease came on : it is increasing ; she is not apart: there are no running sores : general condition fair. Learn that 4 years ago an epidemic of fever with delirium, pains in joints and a universal rash occurred in the town ; almost every one was attacked ; very few died. This malady was the dengue and it spread all over the country. The peo- ple call it ‘raDgila’ (the name of a god). A curious thing is that all these lepers date their disease from an attack of dengue; at least the latter accompanied the onset of leprosy. It may mean that lepers amongst others caught dengue, yet there is a singular coincidence in dates of beginning of leprosy (T. L.), which seems to point to a common cause or origin, and there seemed no designed concurrence in tho narratives of these three people. See also the instances at Bihor, below, page 48. 4. —M., Rajput, 45, labourer,'born and resident here; travelled a little : leprosy 4 years (no previous attack of ‘ rangila’) : there were white spots on the skin, then sores formed on hands and feet. Nothing on face ; there are wide-spread light spots on the back ; nipples a little gun-capped ; hands bronzed, one hand much deformed as in N. L.; but fingers are swollen, and there is no atrophy of the palm : there are sores: right hand has little finger shortened and also middle finger ; nails unchanged : numbness below elbows. Left foot also muoh changed; great toe absent; numbness in both feet and from knees downwards : little change in aspect of right foot. F. and M. dead, free ; a brother dead, older : no sister : no family taint. Married, wife well; a daughter of 8, well. Contact denied. Origin of complaint unknown. Was living and working in fields when the disease come on here : it is | increasing in the hands: he lives apart ; running sores: general condition bad. His disease bears the same date as all the rest, namely, from about four years back. 5. —M., Garassia, 35, labourer in fields: born here, not travelled: leprosy upwards of 4 years. Has had distortion of fingers such as seen in N. L., but fingers are swollen, right hand most affected ; all the fingers being absorbed at their tips: no numbness (?). Feet not much altered in aspect; bronzed ; not benumbed. On face nothing but bronzing: on back dark stains which may be of no import (it is difficult to get any clear statement from this man). Parents free ; no brother ; an elder and younger sister well: no family taint: is married, sons well ; they are quite young: denies contact and knows of no cause. There is psoriasis or eczema of the palm, which reappears annually in the cold season. An obscure case but doubtless leprous: the head Garassia being present, others are perhaps unwilling to speak freely. 6th March.—To Raj pur a, 1.J miles to west of Gopnath : a hamlet on the sea-coast, placed on a small peninsula, jutting into the sea, and composed of sandstone and limestone inter- blending ; once protected by a round fort, now and for the last 15 years in a state of decadence : 44 houses, mostly dilapi- dated and poorer than common, much debris and several ruined tenements, memorial-stones, &c. Population (200) wholly of Kolis (Mahawani, Mori, Sawan, Japar). Food—jowari, bajri, mut: water from an old well near. No guinea-worm : no cholera ; no mycetoma. Only 3 lepers here now ; 20 years ago there was no case, and the first known was tho woman Deoki, No. 1 in the list below : she was born and shewed the disease here, was a labourer and had been about the neighbouring villages ; was married and turned out of home by her husband, being made a beggar ; her brother became a leper : no children. No. 5 was the second leper : he was a distant connection of No. 1, and was born here, acquiring the disease in this village. After this time the complaint bocamo common. Many of the lepers, perhaps most, seem to have been related; and intermarriages of families seem always to have been common. The people are very poor, wholly uneducated, without a priest and prejudiced; they live chiefly by working as labourers, and own no land of their own. They eat fresh fish, but it is not abundant, Dengue fever occurred here three to four years ago, it is not supposed to have had any connection with leprosy, which was then declining. This disease seems to have become suddenly frequent, and it has now become much less common: its decadence is attributed to deaths and emigration of the affected ; there are no instances of recent origin of the malady. The explanation of this rise and fall of leprosy is not clear, for both heredity and contagion might bo supposed to still exert their effective influence in maintaining the complaint. Mode of life lias not changed, they say. and