YAW 



YAUACA, a town of Peru, in the diocefe of Lima^ on 

 luc coaft ; 20 miles S.S.E. of Nafca. S. lat. 15°. 



YAUGAR, a town of Burmah, on the right bank of 

 ',e Irawaddy, oppofite to Raynangong. 



YAUGOS, a town of Peru, in the diocefe of Lima ; 

 80 miles S.E. of Lima. S. lat. 12^ 40'. W. long. 75° 



46'- 



YAVI, a town of Peru, in the diocefe of La Plata ; 



85 miles E.S.E. of Lipes. 



YAW, in Sea Language, denotes the movement by which 

 a (hip deviates from the line of her courfe towards the right 

 or left in fleering. See Steady. 



YAWL, a fmall light fhip's boat, rowed with four to fix 

 oars, ufed to convey the ofScers to and from the (hip. 



YAWNING, OsciTATio, an involuntary opening of the 

 mouth, generally indicating a troublefome wearinefs, or an 

 inclination to deep. See Lungs. 



YAWS, in Medkin', a fevere cutaneous difeafe, which is 

 indigenous in Africa, and has been thence conveyed to the 

 Weft Indies and America; fo called from the refemblance 

 of its eruptions to a rafpberry, the word yaiv in fome 

 African dialecl being the name of that fruit. Nofologifts 

 have denominated it Frambcsfia, from the French Framboife, 

 which has the fame fignification. 



The nature of this difeafe has been imperfeftly invefti- 

 gated by European practitioners ; and as it is perhaps 

 never feen in England, a brief account of it wiU be here 

 fufficient. 



It is not eafy to difcover the precife charafter of this 

 eruption, from the varying language of authors. An 

 anonymous writer, who gave the firft explicit account of 

 the difeafe, (fee Edinb. Med. Eflays, vol. v. part 2. 

 art. 76. ) fays, they are at firft " level or fmooth with the 

 fkin," but foon " become protuberant like pimples." Dr. 

 Hillary, who has copied much from this writer, defcribes 

 them as '^ pimples," though fmootli and level with the fliin, 

 but foon becoming " ^xolvbinnt pujlules." ( On the Dif. of 

 Barbadoes, p. 339.) And Dr. Winterbottom, who has 

 given on the whole the moft perfpicuous defcription of the 

 difeafe, calls them " pufluhs," from their firft appearance. 

 Again, as to the contents of thefe eruptions, the anonymous 

 author and Dr. Hillary fay, that no pas nor any quantity of 

 ichor is found in them, but fpeak of a little ichor as drying 

 upon the furface ; while Dr. Winterbottom fays, they are 

 " filled with an opaque whitifh fluid," and when they burft, 

 " a thick vifcid matter is dilcharged." There is alfo fome 

 difference of opinion among the writers on this difeafe re- 

 fpe6Ung the precurfory fymptoms, the earlier authors af- 

 ferting, that the general health is not impaired during the 

 firft ftages ; but others, efpecially Dr. Winterbottom and 

 Dr. Dancer, affirm, that a felricular ufually precedes it. 

 On the whole, however, the following appears to be the 

 moft correct account of the malady, which is to be collected 

 from the various defcriptions which have been publiftied. 



The eruption of the yaws fometimes commences without 

 any precurfory fymptoms of ill health ; but it is generally 

 preceded by a fiight febrile ftate, with languor, debiUty, and 

 pains of the joints, refembling thofe of rheumatifm. After 

 feveral days, minute protuberances appear on various parts 

 of the (kin, at firft fmaUer than the head of a pin, but gra- 

 dually enlarging, in fome cafes to the diameter of a fix- 

 pence, and in others even to a greater extent : they are 

 moft numerous, and of fiie largeft fize, in the face, groins, 

 xiila, and about the anus and pudenda. But the crop is 



t completed at once ; new eruptions appear in different 

 places, while fome of the earlier ones dry off. When the 

 cuticle is broken, a foul cruft is formed on the furface, from 



YAW 



under which, on the larger protuberances, red fungous 

 excrefcences often fpring up, which attain different magni- 

 tudes, from that of a fmall rafpberry to that of a large mul- 

 berry, which fruit they fomewhat refemble from their gra- 

 nulated furfaces. When the eruption is moft copious, thefe 

 tubercles are of the fmalleft fize j and when fewer, they are 

 largeft. Their duration and progrefs are various in differ. 

 ent conftitutions, and at different periods of hfe. Children 

 fuffer lefs feverely than adults, and are more fpeedily freed 

 from the difeafe. In them, according to Dr. Winter- 

 bottom, the duration of the yaws is from fix to nine months; 

 while in adults it is feldom cured in lefs than a year, and 

 fometimes continues during two or three. The fungous 

 tubercles attain their acme, according to the anonymous 

 writer already quoted, more rapidly in the well-fed negroes 

 than in thofe who are ill-fed and thin ; and they Ukewife 

 acquire a larger fize in the former than in the latter. They 

 are not poffeffed of much fenfibility, and are not the feat of 

 any pain, except when they appear upon the foles of the 

 feet, where they are confined and compreffed by the hard 

 and thickened cuticle : in that fituation they render the aft 

 of walking extremely painful, or altogether imprafticable. 

 They never fuppurate kindly Dr. Winterbottom fays, but 

 gradually difcharge a fordid glutinous fluid, which forms an 

 ugly feat round the edges of the excrefcence, and covers 

 the upper part of it, when much elevated, with white 

 (loughs. When they appear on any part of the body 

 covered with hair, this gradually changes in its colour from 

 black to white, independently of the white incruftation from 

 the difcharge. They leave no depreffion of the (kin. 



The period during which the eruption is in progrefs 

 varies from a few weeks to feveral months. " When no more 

 pulf ules are thrown out," Dr. Winterbottom obferves, " and 

 when thofe already upon the (kin no longer increafe in fize, 

 the difeafe is fuppofed to have reached its acme. About this 

 time it happens, on fome part of the body or other, that one 

 of the puftules becomes much larger than the reft, equalling 

 or furpaffing the fize of a half-crown piece : it affumes the 

 appearance of an ulcer, and inftead of being elevated above 

 the (kin like others, it is confiderably deprelTed ; the furface 

 is foul and floughy, and pours out an ill-conditioned ichor, 

 which fpreads very much, by corroding the furrounding 

 found (Icin : this is what is called the majter or mother yavj." 

 When arrived at its acme, however, the eruption continues 

 a confiderable time without undergoing much alteration, 

 often without very materially injuring the funftions, and it 

 feldom proves dangerous, except from the mifchievous inter- 

 ference of ill-direfted art. 



The yaws is propagated folely by the contagion of the 

 matter difcharged from the eruption, when it is applied to 

 the wounded or broken (]<in of another perfon, who has not 

 previoufly undergone the difeafe. For, hke the febrile 

 eruptions, the yaws affects the fame perfon only once 

 during life ; but, unhke them, it is not propagated by ef- 

 fluvia. The complaint is fometimes inoculated by flies, in 

 thofe hot countries, when the (kin both of the difeafed and 

 the healthy remains uncovered. Hence, Dr. Bancroft 

 fays, " none ever receive it whofe (kins are whole ; for 

 which reafon the whites are rarely infefted ; but the backs 

 of the negroes being often raw by whipping, and fuffered 

 to remain naked, they fcarce ever efcape it." ( Nat. Hift. 

 of Guiana, p. 385. See alfo Winterbottom, p. 141 — 3.) 

 In Africa it is ufually undergone during childhood. The 

 period which elapfes between the reception of the con- 

 tagion and the commencement of the difeafe is no where 

 mentioned ; but in the cafe of a Dane, whom Dr. Adams 

 faw at Madeira, the patient had been abfent ten months 



fiom 



