Billings: Oriental Immigration 



467 



It was previously stated that second 

 and third cabin ahcns from Oriental 

 ports were brought from the ships upon 

 which they arrive to Angel Island where 

 in conjunction with the immigration 

 examination, the medical examination 

 is proceeded with. The aliens are 

 taken to the hospital and, the sexes 

 being separated, lined up under charge 

 of a male or female nurse as the case 

 may be and the eyelids of every one 

 turned by the Medical Officer conduct- 

 ing the examination and the conjunctiva 

 thoroughly inspected to determine the 

 possible presence of trachoma, which is 

 one of the mandatorily excludable 

 diseases. In the case of the women the 

 medical officer makes, coupled with the 

 eye examination, a minute inspection of 

 the face, hands and general appearance. 

 The slightest suspicion of any untoward 

 condition, such as a lung or heart 

 involvement, a skin eruption, evidence 

 of temperature, etc., etc., is followed by 

 a sufficiently extensive examination 

 appropriate to the condition to deter- 

 mine the diagnosis; but in the absence 

 of any suspicious signs this concludes 

 the physical examination. The men 

 are all stripped to the waist, the eyelids 

 are turned and the heart and lungs 

 tested; at the same time notice is being 

 taken of any skin eruption, scars, 

 deformities, or any departure from the 

 normal, including pronounced poor 

 physique. If any of these conditions 

 are observed the alien is held in the 

 hospital a sufficient length of time to 

 obtain a proper clinical history and to 

 arrive at some conclusion as to the 

 underlying cause of the condition. At 

 the conclusion of these procedures each 

 man is taken individually behind a 

 ward screen and completely stripped, 

 in order that any existing abnormality 

 below the waist may be observed. 

 During these examinations the possible 

 presence of tropical disease of any kind 

 is particularly borne in mind, and it is 

 at this time that we detect such of those 

 tropical conditions as obtain and which 

 do not require the use of the microscope 



to establish a diagnosis, or hold for 

 later laboratory investigation persons 

 presenting symptoms of any disease in 

 which the specific organism is known, 

 this latter step being necessitated be- 

 cause officially the attitude is assumed 

 that it is unjustifiable to certify as 

 present a disease of specific origin until 

 the specific organism has been isolated. 

 These examinations having been com- 

 pleted and all conditions necessitating 

 certification to the immigration officials 

 having been noted, each alien, both 

 male and female, is required to furnish 

 a specimen of feces for hookworm 

 examination. When these specimens 

 are properly prepared they are sent to 

 the laboratory for microscopical ex- 

 amination. 



By pursuing the system outlined the 

 medical officers have, during the last 

 three years, detected and certified to 

 the Commissioner of Immigration over 

 100 different diseases, certain ones 

 running into numbers of considerable 

 degree, as for instance approximately 

 3,000 cases of hookworm disease de- 

 tected and cured before being allowed 

 to land. The list includes, besides the 

 conditions that we in this country are 

 accustomed to meet, such diseases as 

 beri-beri, morphinism, uncinariasis, 

 smallpox, trachoma, clonorchiosis, bal- 

 antidic dysentery, liver abscess, sprue, 

 elephantiasis, leprosy and tropical 

 dysentery. 



It may be possible with the progress 

 of time and the accompanying extension 

 of travel with its broadening effect, and 

 the probable partial obliteration of 

 strict geographical lines, that inter- 

 marriage between Oriental and Occi- 

 dental will be very much more frequent 

 than at present. If that be the case it 

 is reassuring to know that aliens 

 arriving at our California ports suffer- 

 ing from mental, moral, or physical 

 defects, or loathsome or dangerous 

 contagious disease will, through the 

 operation of the Immigration Law, and 

 in so far as they come within that law,, 

 be denied admission to our country. 



