16 ON LEPROSY, KTC. : BY -lOSKPH LAUTKRER, M.D. 



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{Vbnua laitipefitri.s) or the twit^^s of a nightshade (Solarium JMI-.^ 

 camara) in the same way, and diatik these decoctions in i^reat 

 quantities and, as they said, with some ett'ect. 



Since the discovery of a leprosy bacillus by Hansen, a 

 bacillus smaller than that of tuberculosis and pointed on bot)i 

 ends and living in enormous numbers in the nodules of the skin 

 and in the mucous membrane of the mouth and larynx, and in 

 the lymph in general, there cannot be any doubt of the con- 

 tagious character of the disease. 



All the time when I was in Christiania the medical men 

 there would have laughed if anybody had spoken of getting 

 leprosy from a leper. Still, remembering the strict measures 

 taken by Moses and in the ^Middle Ages all over Europe to 

 prevent the spread of leprosy, I was <]nite determined not to" 

 leave Christiania without satisfying myself wliether tlie disease 

 Avas contagious or not. I, therefore, aided by Dr. Sorensen, 

 instituted some experiments on rabl)its, injecting with a PraAatz 

 Syringe lymph mixed with blood from the three different 

 varieties of Scandinavian leprosy above referred to. In the 

 same manner injections were made of a lymph prepared liy 

 macerating the scales of diseased skin in ;i mixture of water and 

 glycerine. The rabbits wei-e watclied ciiii-fully during tlie three" 

 following weeks, but no eruption on ihc skin ensued, tbouglx 

 some of the rabbits sickened and, as Dr. Stirensen wrote to rue 

 afterwards, died of what he called consumption. 



When I left Christiania 1 took about an ounce of the scaly 

 powder with me which I had scraped from the worst leprosy 

 patient and I carried it with me o\er Finland and Prussia in 

 ihe travelling- box where 1 had iny shirts, till the box and its con- 

 tents were stolen by a Polish Jew near Warsaw. I do not think 

 much now of my experiments made at that time, extended as 

 they were only over three weeks. Dr. Dam.sea soon aftctrwards 

 is said to have succeeded in transferring leprosy to rabbits. The 

 following conciusions, however, may be deduced from my 

 experience: — (Ij Leprosy, as long as it is confined to the skin, 

 is contagious only in a slight degree, to about the same extent 

 as Actinomycosis and much less than Tuberculosis. (2) The 

 contagious principle is not fixed to the scaly detritus of the skin, 

 and therefore no infection takes place Ijy toucliing ii leper or 

 being near him. 



