GENERAL ACCOUNT HEDLEY. 69 



family specially beloved. On shaking hands I noticed almost 

 every third woman had lost a finger or more of the right hand, 

 and some gave the left rather than expose the mutilated hand."* 



Under the heading of Vegetation will be found what notes I 

 could collect of plants used medicinally by the natives. And in 

 the Ethnological Section will follow an account of the lancets used 

 for blood letting. To the kindness of my friend, Surgeon F. W. 

 Collingwood, R.N., of H.M.S. " Penguin," I am indebted for the 

 following interesting notes. 



Prevalent Diseases of Funafuti. 



" Ruffa, or Tokelau ringworm, Tinea desquamosa.j The skin 

 appears rough and scaly from constant desquamation, in many 

 cases the whole body is affected, in others the face and neck are 

 the parts attacked. The rate of desquamation varies considerably, 

 where the process is slow the skin is covered in small patches an 

 inch and a half by an inch in size ; desquamation commencing at 

 the borders of these small patches causes sinuous outlines running 

 one into the other. Tha scalp seems to entirely escape the disease. 

 As indications of scratching are only occasionally seen, it seems 

 that the irritation caused by this condition is only moderate, and 

 in the two cases where such indications occurred the disease had 

 attacked the face and neck. 



" Ruffa, when cured, leaves a peculiar mottled appearance of the 

 skin, usually a lighter tint is produced by diminution of the colour, 

 but the opposite effect appeared when persons of advanced ago 

 had been attacked. Never does the skin regain its smooth velvety 

 condition. 



" Most encouraging results were obtained by a treatment of this 

 disease which consisted in washing the patient with soap and 

 water to remove as many of the scales as possible, after thorough 

 drying the patient was told to rub with ointment two or three 

 times a day for three days, then to leave the ointment on the 

 body for two or three days and finally to again wash the body 

 with soap and water : the process being repeated two or three 

 times. In a case under my treatment where the disease was 

 limited in area, three such applications sufficed to effect a cure. 



" The following perscription proved very beneficial, and after 

 employment in cases which I personally superintended, and with 



* Whitmee A Missionary Cruise in the South Pacific, 1871, p. 16. A 

 finger joint was sacrificed in Tonga for the recovery of sick relations. 

 Mariner Tonga, ii., 1817, p. 222. 



t Bakua or Tiripa in New Britain. Danks Proc. Austr. Assoc. Adv. 

 Sci. for 1892 (1893), p. 616. For a full discussion of this disease, see 

 Guppy Solomon Islands, 1887, p. 172. 



