THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 401 



Transmission of Leprosy. 



Although the bacillus leprw is generally accepted as the cause of leprosy, 

 the conditions under which it develops and invades the human system are 

 still unknown. Some have asserted that leprosy is inherited; others, that it 

 is transmitted by contact ; while there are not a few who hold that the disease, 

 if not directly caused by a fish diet, is at least aggravated by too great a pro- 

 portion of this food. 



In regard to this last point, the observations of Dr. A. W. Hitt,* who has 

 spent several years among the lepers of India, are of special interest. Dr. 

 Hitt says that the Kabirpauthis of India, who abstain as a rule from the use 

 of meat show the largest ratio of lepers per 10,000 of any religious sect in 

 India, while the Jains, who always abstain from the use of animal food show 

 next to the smallest ratio. His observation would seem to argue against the 

 theory of a fish diet. But Dr. Hitt also concludes that nothing is gained by 

 classifying these patients according to their religious caste which allows only a 

 certain kind of diet, for the Christians and Mohammedans, who eat meat and 

 live on a mixed diet, show a higher ratio of lepers, while the Sikhs, who also 

 live on meat and a mixed diet show a lower ratio. 



As a matter of his own observation, Dr. Hitt says fish alone will not affect 

 a leper, neither will milk alone, but when given a mixed diet of fish and milk 

 the ulcers enlarge and the patient grows worse. Why this is the case is un- 

 known. He believes that the lack of food or some other cause that has a tend- 

 ency to lower the vitality will act as an important factor in the causation of 

 leprosy. In his paper he also gives an interesting table that shows an increase 

 in the number of lepers proportionate to the amount of rainfall. 



Although the theory that leprosy is transmitted by contact lacks final 

 proof, there is a growing conviction that such is the case. Owing to the long 

 period of incubation of this disease as well as to the fact that it appears to 

 be confined to the human race, experiments become difi&cult and uncertain. 

 For instance, Dr. Arning, while investigating leprosy for the Hawaiian Gov- 

 ernment, inoculated a man named Kenan, a condemned criminal, with leprous 

 tissue on September 30, 1884. In 1887 the criminal had developed leprosy. 

 The flaw in this experiment was that Kenan had a nephew who died of leprosy, 

 which made it possible that the disease ran in the family." 



Any one who has examined a fragment of leprous tissue under the micro- 



' Loc. cit., p. 86. 

 ' Loc. cit., p. 105. 

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