Lesions 



747 



ing injuries to occur without detection and to progress without 

 observation. The ulcerations of the hands and feet, with frequent 

 loss of fingers and toes, follow these lesions, probably in the same 

 manner as in syringomyelia. 



The disease usually first manifests itself upon the face, extensor 

 surfaces, elbows, and knees, and for a long time confines itself to 

 the skin. Ultimately it sometimes invades the lymphatics and ex- 

 tends to the internal viscera. Death ultimately occurs from ex- 

 haustion,^ if not from the frequent intercurrent affections, especially 

 pneumonia and tuberculosis, to which the patients seem predisposed. 



Specific Therapy.— Carrasquilla's* "leprosy serum" was pre 



Fig. 291. — Lepra ansesthedca (McConnell). 



pared by injecting the serum separated from blood withdrawn from 

 lepers, into horses, mules, and asses, and, after a number of in- 

 jections, bleeding the animals and separating the serum. There is 

 no reason for thinking that such a product could have therapeutic 

 value. In practice it proved worthless. 



Rostf prepared massive cultures of the lepra bacillus, filtered 

 them through porcelain, concentrated the filtrate to one-tenth of its 

 volume, and mixed the filtrate with an equal. volume of glycerin. 

 The resulting preparation was called leprolin and was supposed to be 



* "Wiener med. Wochenschrift," No. 41, 1897. 

 t "Brit. Med. Jour.," Feb. 11, 1905. 



