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Appendix.
HONGKONG, 26th September, 1904.
SIR, In accordance with your wishes conveyed to me by Dr. JEU HAWK, I have the honour to submit a report on the free distribution of carbolic acid for the treatment of Plague in places outside the Colony, and on the effect of the acid on the disease so far as it has come to my knowledge.
After having perused Dr. J. C. THOMSON's report of the 6th July, 1903, ou Plague cases treated in the Kenneny Town Hospital, in which it is stated that carbolic acid in large doses was the most hopeful means of treating the diseases, it occurred to me that the free distribution of the medicine would be of great bene- fit to those who could not otherwise obtain it. In Hongkong all people suffering from Plague being well cared after, I decided to make the distribution only to places outside the Colony.
As an experiment, I had 2,000 bottles of the acid prepared, which was kindly done for me by Dr. JEU HAWK. The intended distribution was then announced in the Chinese Press and by means of hand-hills. A copy of the latter (of which I append a free translation) explaining the property of the medicine and giving the direction for its use was given with each bottles.
So great was the demand for the drug that the 2,000 bottles were given away within two months, and the supply of another 1,000 bottles was also soon ex- hausted applications for it come from Canton and its surrounding villages, from Tung Kun, Fatshan, Kau Kong, Amoy, Foochow and even Formosa.
Unfortunately, I have not received from every applicant a report regarding the effect of the medicine, but from the 17 letters that have reached me the result seems to have established the efficacy of the acid as a cure for Plague. These letters I annex in original, which I request you to be good enough to return to me when done with. As their contents are mainly expressions of gratitude and usual greetings peculiar to the Chinese, I have not thought it necessary to make transla- tions of them, but have merely confined myself to making extracts from them, noting the salient features on the top of each letter.
In the letters marked A. B. and C. the percentages of cures are given as 70, 60 and 33.3 respectively, while in the others in. which no percentage is noted the accounts given are equally satisfactory. It will be observed that the figures given in the first three letters are at great variance, but it should be remembered that in the Chinese villages where Western (methods) medicines is practically unknown, and where the acid was used for the first time, the method of administering the medicine in the village might have been different from that in another. It is not improbable, indeed it is often the case, according to my experience, that Chinese medicines were also taken while the acid was being used.
I have had under my own observation 6 cases in Canton, of which the meli- cines bad effected 3 cures. Of the 3 mortalities, one (a female) was due to hemorrhage of the generative organ, brought on probably, by excessive consump- tion of Chinese medicines of the most cooling nature, just while the patient was on the way to convalescence- -a time when nourishments should have been taken.
From the figures given above, it will be seen that the percentage of cures with carbolic acid among the Chinese is higher than that given in Dr. THOMSON'S report. This I attribute to the fact that in Hongkong where the sanitary laws are so drastic, and the Chinese have such an inborn prejudice against things foreign, and a horror for dying outside their hearth and home, the cases for treatment in the hospitals were generally those already in au advanced stage of the malady; whereas in the cases herein mentioned the acid was generally given when the disease was in its early stage, and the patients were not harassed with the fear of forcible removal, and in every case took the medicine of their own free will, with even some confidence in its success.
In the face of such good results, I cannot help feeling grateful to the Medical gentlemen who has discovered in this drug its most invaluable quality, and I am not without hope that with further researches the acid may yet become a specific remedy for Plague. In this hope, I have already ordered 5,000 empty bottles for use in the next epidemic, should the disease unfortunately recur. And I also in- tend, for the next distribution, to take steps to ensure more accurate statistics being taken. I have, &c.,
The Hon. Dr. J. M. ATKINSON, M.B., D.P.H., &c.,
Principal Civil Medical Officer
HO KAM TONG.
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