HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



223 



We cordially recommend Dr. Ilerschell's earnest 

 book to the notice of our readers. 



Messrs. Dean & Son, of Fleet Street, are bringing 

 out a series of practical shilling zoological guide 

 books. We have received two copies of the set. 

 One, "The Amateur Zoo, or Pet Animals," is by 

 Arthur Patterson, whose " Notes on Pet Monkeys " 

 we had occasion to draw attention to a month or two 

 ago. Mr. Patterson has taken advantage of the love 

 of the study of natural history of animals to increase 

 our number of pets, so that our knowledge of their 

 life and habits can in this way be pleasurably in- 

 creased. The next issue is on " Poultry," by Edward 

 Brown, F.L.S., editor of the " Fancier's Gazette," in 

 which lovers of poultry have plainly described the 

 varieties, classification, exhibiting, treatment, breeding, 

 rearing, housing, diseases, and general management. 

 This is one of the cheapest and most useful hand- 

 books of poultry we have yet come across. 



The last Animal Report of the Smithsonian In. 

 sfiiution, as usual, contains, in addition to the exhaus- 

 tive report of the secretary, some papers by the 

 leading scientists of the day. Amongst them are 

 articles relating to Anthropology (copiously illus- 

 trated), by O. T. Mason, R. S. W. Schufeldt, Paul 

 Beckwith (who discourses on the " Customs of the 

 Dacotahs") ; Lieut. H. T, Allen, "On the Natives 

 of Copper River, Alaska ; " C. Willoughby, on " The 

 Indians of the Quinaielt Agency, Washington Terri- 

 tory " (very artistically illustrated) ; " The Stone 

 Age of Oregon," by Rev. M. Eells ; "Charm 

 Stones," by Dr. E. Yates; " Studies on the Arch- 

 aeology of Michoacan, Mexico," by Dr. M, Leon ; 

 "Spurious Mexican Antiquities" (illustrated), by 

 W. H. Holmes; "Time Reckoning for the Twen- 

 tieth Century," by Dr. Landford Flemming, &c., &c. 



The God of the Children, by Bedford Pollard 

 (London : Elliot Stock). The author of this very 

 pleasant and charmingly got-up book states that he 

 has written it to supply thoughtful Christian mothers 

 with the means of interesting and instructing their 

 young people during the Sunday afternoons and 

 evenings. He fears, he says, that children do not 

 enjoy their Sundays. He might have gone further, 

 and said he knew they did not. So Mr. Pollard 

 herein preaches a series of short discourses on scien- 

 tific and natural history subjects, which we hope 

 Sundayish children will listen to better than to 

 ordinary sermons. 



NOTES ON LEPROSY, 



THE article on the above subject in the September 

 number of Science-Gossip has left one or 

 two points open to further opinion ; and,' as this is a 

 subject which has recently engaged public attention, 

 some discussion of these points may not be altogether 

 uninteresting. First, as regards the nomenclature of 

 the disease. The true leprosy is now known as 



Elephantiasis Gnrcoriim. It was described by old 

 authors under the name of lepra, but this term is now 

 used as synonymous with psoriasis, an entirely dis- 

 tinct disease, but one with which the disease now 

 under consideration was confounded ; it has also been 

 confounded with Elephantiasis Aralnun, syphilis, 

 chronic eczema, lupus, and leucoderma, and hence 

 there have been considerable differences in the descrip- 

 tions of various authors. The name elephantiasis was 

 given to it, not on account of the enlargement of the part 

 affected, but from the magnitude of the disease ; thus 

 yEtius says, " Elephantiasis a magnitudine et diuturni- 

 tate nomen accipit " (it^ takes the name of elephan- 

 tiasis from its magnitude and long duration). 

 Elephantiasis Arabntn, on the other hand, takes its 

 name from the enormous size to which the affected 

 parts attain, the scrotum sometimes weighing from 

 fifty to one hundred pounds ; except in name, these 

 two diseases have nothing in common. Leprosy has 

 also at various times been known as Lepra vera. 

 Lepra Arabuin, Leontiasis, Satyriasis, and Morbus 

 Herciilcus. 



Then as regards causation. There is no doubt that 

 the immediate cause of the symptoms is the growth 

 in the affected regions of small round cells, like 

 granulation tissue, derived probably from the connec- 

 tive tissue corpuscles ; but what the cause of this . 

 new growth may be is still open to question. It is 

 much too vague to put it down as a "parasitic lichen," 

 " animalcula," "an exaggerated typeof skin disease," ' 

 etc., even though we may not be able to say what the 

 determining cause is. Temperature can have no 

 influence, since the disease occurs both in Norway 

 and in India ; soil and climate do not appear to affect 

 it much, as it occurs both in low-lying marshy districts- 

 and in high altitudes, on the sea-coast and inland, in 

 continents and on islands. Many of the places where 

 it is endemic, are low-lying and marshy. Race does 

 not make much difference, as it may occur in persons 

 of any nationality ; it is more common among the 

 poor and filthy than among the better classes. It has 

 been attributed to a diet of decomposing fish, especi- 

 ally as fish was so largely consumed in Europe in the 

 Middle Ages, when leprosy was excessively common^ 

 But, unfortunately for this theory, leprosy may occur 

 among those who live almost entirely on vegetables... 

 A specific bacillus was discovered about fifteen years 

 a^o, pervading the tissues of the person affected, and 

 more especially the nodules and ulcers which are so 

 characteristic of the disease. This bacillus is about 

 five micro-millimetres in length, and is very much 

 like i\i& Baeillics tuberculosis, only it stains more easily. 

 However, inoculation with this bacillus has not, so 

 far, produced the disease. This, however, is not 

 surprising when we remember that the disease is not 

 ordinarily contagious, but only appears in persons 

 exposed to certain predisposing causes. Probably, if 

 the Bacillus lepra; were inoculated into a person 

 subject to these influences, it would produce the 



