122 ALLAN MCLAUGHLIN 



could have been detected by ordinary medical skill. This 

 penalty has had a salutary effect in causing the steamship 

 companies to institute a more rigid medical inspection at the 

 European ports of departure. Formerly the presence of a dis- 

 eased alien in the steerage was a matter of more or less indif- 

 ference to the steamship companies, as they could carry him 

 back to Europe, if deported, and still make a profit on the 

 price of his original passage. 



Two points about trachoma have occasioned considerable 

 discussion. These are its contagiousness and its likelihood of 

 causing permanent injury to sight. The contagiousness of 

 trachoma is recognized and conceded by those who have seen a 

 sufficient number of cases of the disease to form an accurate 

 impression. Striking examples of its contagious character 

 can be seen any day on Ellis island. The annual conference 

 of state and provincial boards of health, held at New Haven, 

 October, 1902, placed trachoma in the category of diseases 

 communicable and dangerous to the public health. 



Permanent injury to sight is most likely to occur in cases 

 where early treatment is neglected. Among immigrants with 

 trachoma, ignorance of personal hygiene and inability to secure 

 proper treatment make the spread of this disease alarming and 

 the consequences to sight disastrous. 



The area in Europe where trachoma is most prevalent 

 extends from the gulf of Finland on the north to the Black 

 sea and the Mediterranean on the south, and from Moscow 

 and the Volga on the east to the Carpathian mountains on the 

 west. In addition, it is prevalent in Greece and southern 

 Italy, probably because of commercial intercourse with Syria, 

 Egypt and the Barbary states. The first mentioned area is 

 occupied by Finns, Lithuanians, Russians, Poles, Russian 

 Germans and Hebrews. The statement is made in some text 

 books that trachoma is prevalent among the Irish. Observa- 

 tion of immigrants shows that this statement is not true. 

 There is less trachoma among the Irish than any other race of 

 immigrants. The following table indicates the ratio in which 

 this disease was found among the immigrants landed in 

 in 1902. 



