THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 409 



possibility that a poisonous condition is produced in the wound by the juices 

 of the plant, but whether this is so or not I am not prepared to say. 



In a number of instances we also noticed some chronic sores of the hand, 

 which followed the picking or handling of pineapples. 



Abscess of various parts of the body, especially of the jaws from defective 

 teeth, were found very prevalent. In fact, the condition of the mouths of 

 most of the natives past middle age was generally very bad, the teeth seeming 

 to decay and disintegrate very rapidly. This is probably due in a great 

 measure to the poor food, with resulting indigestion, and also to poor condi- 

 tions of living. 



Taking into consideration the rough nature of the coral rock, over which 

 these people so frequently walk and transport their belongings, accidents and 

 injuries of various kinds seem to be very few and far between. 



DEGENERACY. 



One of the most interesting problems which the medical staff was called 

 upon to investigate was that of degeneracy. Individuals who had evidently 

 reverted to conditions both physically and mentally lower than that of their 

 immediate ancestors, were frequently met with throughout the Bahamas; but 

 there were two settlements where these conditions seemed particularly well 

 marked. One of these was Spanish Wells, George Island, and the other 

 Hope-town, Abaco. We visited both of these places, and to the latter gave 

 special study. 



History of Spanish Wells. 



Spanish Wells was supposed to have been settled by pirates, who refused 

 to mingle with the surrounding negroes, and as the number of white people in 

 the settlement was limited, close intermarrying resulted. The consequences 

 of this practice are evident in the present condition of the inhabitants. Here 

 we found an abnormally large proportion of locomotor-ataxia, and eye diseases, 

 including cataracts,' pinguecula? and pterygium-growths. We examined one 

 dwarf woman 69 years of age (Plate LXXII, Fig. 1), and were told that there 

 had been several other dwarfs in the settlement, some of whom had died re- 

 cently. We noticed, also, that the mental acumen of many of the inhabitants of 

 this place was rather low. The condition of these people, although bad enough 

 was very much better than that of the inhabitants of Hopetown. 



