APPENDIX. 



MOSQUITOES AND LEPROSY. 



IN a most interesting letter from Dr. Dupree to 

 Dr. Albert S. Ashmead, of New York, in reply- 

 to inquiries concerning the transmission of leprosy 

 by mosquitoes, are also some statements concerning 

 the possible culpability of the wicked flea. Although 

 these do not properly belong to this work, the cor- 

 respondence is of so much interest that it seems a 

 pity to lose any of it. I have, therefore, in sub- 

 stance set down practically the whole. 



Dr. Ashmead's remarks and queries cover, in brief, 

 the following points: Leprosy never arises de novo, 

 but it is supposed that the bacilli, or spores, may 

 remain in the soil, etc. The earth may possibly be 

 also infected by dead insects, or by grubs and earth- 

 worms, and human beings be inoculated by one or 

 more species of insects (the disease being bacterial, 

 and not protozoan). Referring to the case of some 

 people who lived, after the death of two lepers, in 

 and very near the homes of the latter, and who took 

 the disease, while the wife and husband of the two 

 original lepers escaped entirely, it is suggested that 

 the infection might have been carried to the latter 

 patients by insects, from the leper's soiled dressings, 

 which were thrown out of the back doors and left 



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