The Spread of Leprosy. 75 



cles; until the whole system becomes contaminated, the 

 blood poisoned, and the internal organs affe6ted ; and the 

 wretched sufferer, shunned by his fellow creatures, dies 

 either from the exhausting effects of the disease or some 

 internal complication — death putting an end to his suffer- 

 ings in about nine years on the average. Negroes are 

 more prone to this form of leprosy than any others, and 

 it is the most fatal form of the disease. 



II. Anaesthetic leprosy, known also as Leuke of the 

 Greeks, Baras of the Arabians, Joint-evil of the West 

 Indies, Sunbahirii of the East Indies, and dry leprosy, 

 in contradistinction to the other form also known as 

 humid leprosy, is characterised by a diseased condition 

 of the nerves, and a peculiar eruption, the primary 

 characteristic of which is loss of sensation, or anaesthesia, 

 hence its name. After a time ulcerations form, a sort 

 of dry gangrene of the limbs sets in, and joints drop off, 

 and finally there is more or less paralysis. It would 

 take a large volume to describe the signs or symptoms 

 of leprosy, but the preceding account is sufficient to show 

 what an alarming affection we have to deal with. 



The earliest accounts of leprosy in the colony are 

 neither full nor important ; but such as they are, they all 

 point to the fa6l that leprosy was originally introduced 

 here by slaves from Africa, where the disease has existed 

 from time immemorial. The earlier colonists were quite 

 familiar with the appearance of leprosy as it affected 

 their slaves, and strict measures were taken to isolate 

 them from the others ; hence it did not spread to any 

 great extent. Leper slaves were generally employed as 

 watchmen aback at the provision grounds, where the well- 

 known watch house is, and used to be. Here he was 



K 2 



