A FEEDING EXPERIMENT ON TWO HUNDRED LEPERS 



AT CULION LEPER COLONY, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



By Hartley Embrey 



Associate in Physiological Chemistry, Union Medical College, Peking, China 



At the request of Governor-General Leonard Wood and Dr. 

 Vicente de Jesus, I organized and conducted a feeding experi- 

 ment on two hundred lepers at Culion Leper Colony, Philippine 

 Islands. 



This feeding work was undertaken for the following reasons : 

 (a) The chaulmoogra ethyl ester treatment for leprosy in many 

 respects is not successful with lepers who have syphilis, yaws, or 

 tuberculosis; many of the Culion lepers are tuberculous; (6) 

 the Government raw rations now supplied to more than 4,000 

 lepers at Culion are decidedly insufficient in calorific value, 

 mineral matter, vitamine content, and quantity of protein; (c) 

 even the supplies that are given out at Culion are issued in 

 irregular amounts and often at irregular intervals, particularly 

 in the case of fish and vegetables. 



The last condition is due largely to the following factors: 

 Culion Leper Colony is located on the rocky coast of an island 

 about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Manila. Very little 

 gardening is done by the lepers. The arrival of boats in the past 

 has been irregular, and there is a lack of proper refrigeration in 

 the colony, so that supplies cannot be stored for long periods of 



The regular Culion diet, as indicated by a table given me by the 

 steward of the colony, follows : 



Culion Leper Colony, September 19, 1921. 

 Standard weekly ration furnished each leper as per last record on file. 



1 loaf bread. 



1 kilogram camotes, when available. 



0.2 package chocolate (for hospital). 



0.75 chupa ' coffee, green. 



1.5 kilograms fish, fresh (0.25 kilogram daily for six days). 



i chupa is approximately 200 grams. 



