TART II.] Examination of the Delhi Sore in situ. 419 



nostrums applied, it seldom presents its natural tint, but ranges from a greyish- 

 yellow to various shades of black. 



It is difficult to fix upon any particular age at which the sore manifests itself 

 most frequently. From puberty to thirty may be mentioned as the time of life 

 during which we ourselves have most frequently witnessed the disease, but we have 

 likewise seen it in persons whose ages ranged from two to fifty-five years. 



As in the case of the '' Oriental sore " described in other localities and countries, 

 so also in the sore as met with in Delhi, one of its leading features consists in the 

 chronic course which it runs. It may last from a month or two to several years, but 

 perhaps six to eight months may be set down as its average duration when not 

 aggravated by improper local and other treatment. When it heals, a permanent 

 pinkish- white or pale-yellow scar marks the site and area of each sore. Dr. C. H. Y. 

 Godwin, in a report on the subject in 1865, thus describes the pseudo-healing process 

 so frequently witnessed during the course of the disease, and which so often only results 

 in disappointment : " When," writes Dr. Godwin, " commencing to heal, it does so by 

 filling up in the centre, and not from the circumference; but the great tendency is 

 to dry or scab over, and this leads the patient often to think that his sore has at 

 last healed : not so, however ; this surface breaks down again and again, leaving each 

 time an ulcerated surface larger than before." 



CHAPTER V. 



THE P^lTHOLOGY OF THE ORIENTAL SORE. 



As already intimated, the discussion of the different views which have been pro- 

 pounded in this country and in Europe regarding the significance of the various 

 pathological appearances which the diseased tissues present in this affection forms 

 no part of our programme, nor are we called upon to express any opinion regarding 

 the importance to be attached to the various microscopic objects and organisms 

 which have from time to time been described as associated with the disease, but 

 simply to record what we ourselves have been able to see, and to limit our inferences 

 to actual observations on the Oriental Sore as in Delhi and its vicinity.* 



1. — Examination of the Sore in situ. 



The two sores depicted in Plate XXVIII (Fig. 1) as occurring on the dorsal surface 

 of a sepoy's hand represent the ordinary features of a developed Delhi sore as covered 



* We are greatly indebted to the surgeon in medical charge of the 33rd Native Infantry Regiment (Dr. E. R. 

 Johnson) for the active manner with which he aided us during our stay at Delhi, and for the opportunities which 

 he so readily afEorded us for the study of the complaint among the sepoys in his regiment. Assistant Surgeon 

 Radakishen also, by the permission of the Civil Surgeon of Delhi (Dr. Fairweather), materially contributed to the 

 furtherance of our work by collecting numerous cases of the sore for our inspection at the Charitable Dispensary, 

 and in other ways. 



