234 REVIEW — TROPICAL MEDICINE, ETC. 



Whooping Churchill states that a differential leucocyte count of the blood is very useful In most 



Cough- cases there is a marked leucocytosis, and in the early catarrhal stage, when infection is apt 



conumud to spread, there is a lymphocytosis. Ager mentions, as important diagnostic features, apart 



from the characteristic cough, the presence of an ulcer on the frenum Ungum and the 



occurrence of a heavy white precipitate of uric acid in the urine. 



Parkinson'* mentions that whooping cough may be simulated by fibrosis of the lung 

 As regards treatment, many drugs are in the market, but no specific has as yet been 

 discovered either to abort or prevent an attack. 



Mention may be made of a vapour used as an inhalation recommended by Kraus - 

 consisting of naphthalene 180 parts, camphor 20 parts, eucalyptus oil 3 parts, and pine oil 

 3 parts. This is mixed with boiling water to vaporise it. 



Beryaete strongly recommends the use of warm baths at a temperature of 102°- 107° F 

 repeated every 6 hours. ' 



Stephens^* recommends syringing the ears with warm boraeic acid lotion and painting 

 the throat with 5-10 per cent, solution of cream in glycerin and water. 



Eothschild^* recommends chloroform narcosis as a successful line of treatment. Various 



antispasmodics, asafoetida, bromides, antipyrine and belladonna may be tried together 



with efforts to improve the general health of tlie patient. ° 



Yaws. This interesting disease has an extensive geographical distribution in many 

 parts of the Tropics. It is especially common in many of the islands in the West Indies, 

 the West Coast of Africa, and occurs in Ceylon and in many of the Pacific Islands, notably 

 Fiji. It is also prevalent in Assam and Burma. 



Its nomenclature is as interesting as its distribution, as it is known under the names 

 of Framboesia, Paranga (Ceylon), Puru (Malay), Pian (Indo-China), Coko (Fiji). 



Little is known at present of its distribution in India ; its existence there has been 

 confirmed, but its exact extent requires investigation. 



It is due to the efforts of Castellani^ that light has been thrown upon the etiology 

 of yaws; for it was in February, 1905, that this observer announced his discovery of a 

 delicate spirochaete in the secretion obtained from an ulcer in a case of yaws In a 

 paper;' read before the Ceylon branch of the British Medical Association, he named this 

 organism the Spirochasta ■pertenuis. Castellani's observation was confirmed bv Wellnian ' 

 Powell and others. ' 



In further observations made by Castellani," spirochetes showing differences in 

 morphological details were noted in the ulcerative lesions of yaws. These spirochsetes 

 were of a coarser variety and were termed S. obtusa and S. acumina. 



It is beyond the scope of this work to refer to the minute histological characters of 

 the kpirochaita pertenuis, but mention may be made of the difficulty experienced in stainincr 

 'u cV T^^^' ^°^^^^''' Leishman's method and allowing the alcoholic solution to act on 

 the film for five to ten minutes, and the subsequent admixture with distilled water to act 

 for half-an-hour to several hours, good staining effects can be obtained. Giemsa's stain 

 also gives good results. 



In preparations obtained by Lceffler's method of staining for flagella, Castellani 

 observed in some parasites the presence of an extremely delicate flagellum at one end and 

 he considers therefore that the organism should be considered as a Treponema instead of a 

 spirochaBte. That the Treponema pertenuis is the causative factor of this disease is now 

 well established. Neisser, Baer mann and Halberstadter^ showed that monkeys could be 



» Parkinson, A. S. (August, 1906). Sediater, p. 502. 

 » Kraus, E. (1905). Deutsche Med. Zeit., p. 827. 

 => Stephens, T. (1906). Hospital. 

 " KothachUd, H. de (May 23rd, 1906). Scm. Mid. 

 " Castellani, A. (August 15th, 1905). Journal of Tropical Medicine. 



' Castellani, A. (June 17th, 1905). Paper read before Ceylon Branch of British Medical Association. 

 ' WeUman, F. C. (December 1st, 1905). " A Spirochete found in Yaws Papules." Journal of Tropical Medicine. 

 » Castellani, A. (November 23rd, 1907). " Notes on the Spirochiete of Yaws." British Medical Journal. 

 » Neisser, A Baermann and Halbcrstadter, L. (July 10th, 1906). " Researches on the Transmission of Yaws 

 to Monkeys." Munch. Med. fVoch., Vol. LIII., p. 1337. 



* Article not consulted in the original. 



