26 Diseases of the Karens, [No. 1, 



many in the form of dreadful sores. Shingles, and fish-skin, and ring- 

 worm are nearly as common as psora. 



Many diseases, common to all nations, are much more fatal to Karens 

 than to Europeans. The measles are as fatal as the small-pox in 

 Europe, and the hooping cough often makes sad havoc among children. 

 I have known more than twenty die of this disease In a small village 

 of some two hundred inhabitants. 



Consumption kills a few, dropsy more, dysentery many, and occa- 

 sionally considerable numbers are reported to me as dying of fevers ; 

 and yet I have never met with a single case of fever among the 

 Karens, that did not yield to medicine. Enlarged spleen is very com- 

 mon, and is sometimes fatal. Ulcers do not kill, but they are as com- 

 mon as skin diseases, and are in great variety. 



There is a disease very prevalent among the Sgau tribes, in which 

 large ulcers appear on thejimbs. I have had patients brought to the 

 towns, where they have been sent to the hospitals ; and sometimes 

 they have been slightly benefited ; but in no case has a cure been 

 effected by European treatment ; and I have never found a Surgeon 

 who understood the nature of the disease. One said : "It is not 

 leprosy ;" but I think it is a kind of leprosy. Another remarked on the 

 cases submitted to his treatment: "I cannot help thinking there is some- 

 thing venereal in it." This the Karens uniformly deny, but I have 

 certainly seen cases in which both legs were masses of what appeared 

 to be incurable sores completely cured, by severe salivation administered 

 by a Burmese doctor ; which favours the idea of the venereal character 

 of the disease ; but I have seen others die under the same treatment. 

 The disease is hereditary in most instances, but whenever an ulcer 

 appears, the Karens consider it infectious, and will not have the 

 patient in the same house with them. They insist on his living in a 

 separate house, as much as they would a leper. The Burmese, how- 

 ever, do not consider the disease infectious, in which they are partly 

 correct. The Bghais say it is a foreign disease, and some call it " the 

 Paku disease," and others the " Burmese disease ;" while the Burmese 

 in some sections call it " the Martaban disease," and in others " the 

 Toungoo disease." 



Goitre is common on the hills in special localities. It abounds in 

 one village on the granite mountains, while villages three hours' walk 



