THE MODERN INHABITANTS. 121 



Several cases of ichthyosis have been noted by our doctors, all of 

 them congenital. In this disease the skin of the patient has the ap- 

 pearance of being- composed of small scales like those of fishes. 

 Though the disease is apparently incurable, the patients do not appear 

 to suffer and their general health is good. Among other skin diseases 

 is that known in the Eastern Tropics as " dhobie itch" {Tinea circinata), 

 a kind of ringworm which, if unchecked, spreads over the skin in 

 large areas. This was very common among our own men. A good 

 remedy for skin diseases is the "ringworm shrub" (Herpetica alata), 

 introduced into Guam and the Philippines from Mexico, and called 

 by the natives "acapulco." Another excellent remedy is an ointment 

 made of 1 per cent of chrysarobin with vaseline. Chrysarobin, known 

 also as u goa powder," is obtained from the longitudinal canals and inter- 

 spaces of the wood of Andira araroba, a Brazilian tree belonging to 

 the Leguminosae. 



The most prevalent disease among the natives is hereditary syphilis. 

 During the first years of the American occupation of the island no 

 primary or secondary cases were observed. The most frequent symp- 

 toms of this disease are ulcers and hard lumps on various parts of the 

 body and destructive joint and bone lesions. It is not uncommon for 

 a young man or woman, or even a little child, of apparently fine phy- 

 sique to be afflicted with an ulcer in the palate or nose, which often 

 spreads over the face and sometimes destroys the eyes. Syphilis, like 

 leprosy, was probably introduced into Guam by diseased convicts and 

 laborers, some of whom were Chinese, sent to the island from the 

 Philippines at the request of some of the early governors. One 

 governor's report, to which reference has alread}^ been made, describes 

 the condition of some of the convict laborers sent to Guam, who were 

 afflicted with scurvy and skin diseases and foul ulcers. After under- 

 going- medical treatment for a short time they were distributed over 

 the island/' It is probable that many others previously sent, of whose 

 importation we have no record, were also diseased in like manner, 

 and that little or no effort was made on the part of the authorities to 

 prevent the contagion from spreading. 



On the arrival of the Americans at Guam, the natives flocked by 

 scores to our medical officers for treatment. In the report of the 

 Surgeon-General of the Navy for 1900, attention is called to the extra- 

 ordinary success attending the treatment of hereditary syphilis, nearly 

 every case of which responded immediately to potassium iodide or to 

 mercury, administered either in large or in small doses. 



Another source of disease was the frequent visits of whaling vessels 

 and the establishment on the island of a hospital for the treatment of 



e "Llegaron 21 enfermos, unos escorbutados y otros con llagas y enferroedad.es 

 cutaneas." (Don Pablo Perez, letter to the captain-general of the Philippines, ined., 

 October 17, 1851.) 



