122 T^SEFTTL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



dlsea.sod soanioii. It was sometimes impossible foi- tliose in charg'e of 

 the hospital to kee}) the i)atients under control, and their disorderly 

 behavior eaused much worry to the Spanish officials. 



Amonii' the majiy wise and ))enevolent acts which characterized the 

 administration of CJoxernor Schroeder was the estal)lishment of a civil 

 hospital. 'I'lie corner stone was laid by Mrs. Schroeder on the K'th of 

 June, lltoO, and the )>uildino- was dedicated by the Reverend Father 

 Jo.se l^domo." One of the principal causes of the stationary condition 

 of the population, as shown by the census of the island, was the death 

 of new-born infants and of women in childl)irth. A school for the 

 instruction of midwives was accordingl}' established, and all women on 

 the island employed in this capacity were oblio'ed to undergo a course 

 of instruction before receiving license to continue their profession. 



The doctors reported typhoid fever to be endemic. Diseases of the 

 eye were not very conunon, thoug-h several cases of conjunctivitis and 

 iritis were treated. Malaria is apparent! 3' absent, though mosqui is 

 abound. Among the parasitic diseases are tape\7orm and lumbncjid 

 worms. In one year 17 deaths from the latter were reported, and in 

 the preceding year 5 cases of the former were successfully treated. 

 Tu])erculosis exists on the island, ))ut is not widely spread. 



It is not strange that the early inhabitants complained tha. che 

 vSpaniards brought curses to their islands without bringing remedies 

 for their cure. The last serious epidemic was that of smallpox t)rought 

 from ^Manila in March, 1856, by the schooner J^. L. Frod^ and lasti/ig 

 until the following November. More than two-lifths of the popula- 

 tion perished, and in some cases whole villages were wiped out of 

 existence. 



In the summer of 1899 the Spanish transport Elcano brought to t ^e 

 island a disease thought at first to be cerebro-spinal meningitis, but 

 afterwards l)elieved to be anterior poliomyelitis. In some respects 

 it resembled beriberi, ))ut it was not attended with dropsical s_ymp- 

 toms. The victims, all adults, were suddenly stricken when in appar- 

 ently perfect health. Frequently death ensued in three or four days. 

 If the victim survived, paralj'sis either in the arms or legs was sure to 

 follow, and the muscles of the afflicted parts became atrophied.* The 

 disease was chiefl}' confined to the village of Sumai, on the shore of 

 the harbor of Apra. It would be interesting to know whether this 

 epidemic could be traced to the importation of moldy or damaged rice, 

 which in Japan and the Philippines is supposed to l)e the cause of 

 beriberi. 



" Report of the Secretary of the Navy for the year 1901, p. 82. 

 '' Alfred (i. Grunwell, assii^tant surgeon, U. S. Navy, in Report of the Surgeon- 

 Geueral of the Navy for 1900, pp. 224-227. 



