1048 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION I. 
laity ; and in this respect of isolation the course taken was almost 
the same in Victoria. Somewhat before 1888 there were two or 
three helpless lepers isolated voluntarily, and in that year it was 
made legal to remove to a Jazaret and to detain there any newly- 
discovered leper ; but this could be done only if two medical men 
certified and reported—that is, if two physiciaus chose to take 
that course, then the central authority might (again if they chose) 
forcibly remove the leper so reported; but no compulsion to 
report, or to isolate, lepers was laid on anyone. It was not until 
1893 that notification and isolation of all cases of lepra was made 
compulsory in Victoria. 
I repeat, then, that it is clear beyond all doubt that there were 
many foreign lepers in Victoria, from 1858 onwards, and that 
they were entirely uncontrolled ; but no native white leper was 
ever recorded or detected according to the result of very exten- 
sive inquiries made, not only in official quarters, but of individual 
medical men still surviving and practising from the earliest date 
mentioned, On the other hand, it is equally clear that from 
about the same time there were a good many white lepers in 
New South Wales, long before any important number of cases 
among Chinese or other immigrants had been observed ; and 
more than this, the disease died down—almost died out—in 
Victoria before notification became compulsory. So that, on 
the whole, it may well be said that if lepra can be diffused by 
lepers, then it seems as though there were something about 
Victoria which prevented the imported infection from “ taking” 
there. Thus the most that can be suggested by way of adverse 
comment on these statements is, that cases probably did occur 
among Chinese, &ec., in New South Wales during the long series 
of years before 1883, although they were not observed, recog- 
nised, or noted, the fact appearing in any case to be that the 
infection did take in New South Wales, but refused to take in 
Victoria, on the white inhabitants. 
There are a few other points which must be noted here. They 
are, first, that there has never been any such prevalence of 
leprosy among the Chinese in either territory as might fairly be 
expected of a communicable disease occurring among a people 
who habitually live at extremely close quarters with each other 
(and who, according to my observation, show no particular fear 
of that disease) ; secondly, that most of the native-born white 
lepers in New South Wales have not merely never associated with 
coloured people of any race, but have certainly never been in 
conscious contact with any leper. The number of Chinese in 
Victoria was vastly in excess of the number in New South Wales 
down to 1881. The total population of the two territories, which 
march together, was at every date practically equal; but the 
area of Victoria being 88,000 square miles, and that of New 
