664
Report of the Medical Missionary Society.
Dec.
good authority, that while the severest prohibitions of commissioner Lan were in force, that these people bought and sold opium with great profit, and without any danger of detection. Leprosy is un- doubtedly an hereditary disease, but whether it is really contagious I cannot determine. The Chinese affirm that it is, aud act accord- ingly. It is said to become mild in the third generation, and to run itself out in the fourth. A child may become leprous when the pa- rents are apparently free from any taint, and it is therefore a matter of great importance and anxiety to determine this point. The com- mon mode of doing this, is to call in one of the police connected with the lazaretto, who from long experience is qualified to judge; or the suspected person is placed in a dark room where some uitre is burning; if the complexion changes to light blue it is not leprosy, if it remain unchanged of a reddish hue it is. Another mode is to take the person to a shop and expose the face or diseased part to the large blaze of a refining furnace, when if it remains a dullish red, it is the leprosy.
To prevent any children being inoculated with this dreadful mala- dy, the government orders two police men from the lazar house to examine all the children who present themselves for vaccination to Hequa, who was initiated into this art by the late Dr. Pearson. If there is any suspicion of leprosy the child cannot be vaccinated. Want of time forbids me to compare the leprosy of the Chinese with that of the Jews, Arabs and Hindoos; I shall only therefore describe the symptoms as met with in the natives of this, and its two neigh- boring provinces Kwangsi and Fukien. Beyond them this disease. does not appear to extend: this is accounted for by the Chinese by these being lower and more damp than the other provinces. I hope more extended observations will throw light upon this point. It is reasonable to suppose from the fact that this disease is unknown in Europe, and in temperate or frigid zones, that its no further pro- gress towards the north, may be accounted for by the intenser cold of the other provinces in winter. However, whatever may be the cause, the fact seems to be established that the leprosy in China is confined to the southwest provinces. Not one case was seen at Chusan. The first appearance of the disease is a red spot appearing either on the face, body or legs-most frequently on the face. This gradually spreads to a patch which is usuall round, or in streaks. Sometimes these patches unite, and in other cases they are distinct and numerous. On examining this patch the integument feels thick- ened, is elevated, and of a dull reddish hute; the skin looks stretched,