INDIA. '-' ,;: > 



tomycosis are not known here. In the coolies gonorrhea 

 pursues a very mild course. No local treatment is used. 

 Under internal use of an alkaline mixture, the disease 

 subsides in the course of ten days. 



HOMELESS LEPER ASYLUM, MATUNGA, BOMBAY. 



One of the most creditable and beneficial of the hun- 

 dreds of charity institutions of Bombay is the Home- 

 less Leper Asylum in the suburb Matunga. It is the 

 largest leper asylum in India, and at present it is the 

 home of 370 lepers. The inmates are well cared for. 

 and instead of living the lives of outcasts in misery, 

 beggary and much suffering, are well housed, kindly 

 treated, and their discomforts and pains alleviated to 

 a remarkable degree. Segregation has never been car- 

 ried into effect, and there are now about 150 vagrant 

 lepers roaming the streets of Bombay. Mr. H. A. Ac- 

 worth, I.C.S., C.I.E., municipal commissioner for the 

 city of Bombay from 1890 to 1895, is the founder of 

 this model institution, as it was through his influence 

 that the necessary funds were obtained. Bich mer- 

 chants and native princes responded to his appeal and 

 made liberal contributions. The many tile-roofed, one- 

 story brick pavilions are situated in grounds embrac- 

 ing ll 1 /^ acres of fertile land, advantageously located, 

 enclosed and unenclosed; municipal and leased from 

 the government at a nominal rent. On the morning 

 of Nov. 7, 1890, about fifty vagrant lepers were col- 

 lected by the health department and the police at various 

 centers and, after medical examination, were sent to 

 the asylum under police escort and, after thorough 

 cleansing and change of clothes, were entered as the- 

 first installment of patients of the leper home. The- 

 poor lepers have since learned from experience and 

 observation the full extent of the benign and humane' 

 intentions of the asylum and now enter it voluntarily 

 in increasing numbers, happy in the -thought that by 

 doing so their short lives will be made more endurable 



