Memoir on leprosy in Syria / by John Wortabet.

  • Wortabet, John, 1827-1908.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Memoir on leprosy in Syria / by John Wortabet. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    this disease entitles their opinion to the highest consideration, express their views on this subject thus :—‘'f From our experience and knowledge of the malady we can declare that the more the disease is developed, the more unfavorable must be the prognosis ; never- theless, far be it from us to say that it is incurable, even in its advanced stage, for we have seen that nature had brought about a cure in several instances where the patients were grievously affected.”1 Arsenic has long enjoyed a high reputation in India and other parts of the world2 as an extremely valuable therapeutical agent in this disease. The ‘College of Physicians speak favorably of iodine. I have tried in a few instances the iodide of arsenic, and others in this country have used the same agent, and the general opinion appears to be that, while it is no specific, it has considerable power in arresting the further progress of the disease. Mercury has been found to be highly disastrous, and I have never tried it. The general evidence for the use of tonics, both mineral and vegetable, leaves no doubt as to their great utility in improving the health, and thus contributing to the arrest of leprosy. The same thing may be said of the systematic use of baths, cold, tepid, saline, and sulphureted. Bor the anaesthesia of the extremities both myself and others have frequently tried electricity, with generally useful but temporary results. The leprous ulcerations lose their fetor and unhealthy character, I have found, under the use of carbolic-acid dressings, and are fre- quently healed by them. While all these means are useful, and should never be neglected, the main dependence should be on those general hygienic rules which are of universal application in all chronic complaints—nutritious food, pure air, frequent and daily ablution, moderate exercise, suitable clothing, and regular habits. It is certain that, so far, we have no specific against leprosy, nor is it likely that we shall discover one. The hope of stamping out the disease by the general amelioration of the physical and moral con- dition of the poor seems to be the only one held out; and it is reasonable to suppose that, as its extermination in Great Britain and other parts of the world was probably due to this cause, it may be 1 ‘ Report on Leprosy,’ p. lxxii. 5 Mr. Palgrave says that leprosy abounds in Arabia, and that the natives use tor it an unsuccessful specific, the sulphate of arsenic (tersulpliide ? orpimeut) which they call “yellow arsenic,” and which occasionally cures the disease and sometimes kills by an overdose, or even by external application (‘ Central and Eastern Arabia, vol. n, p. 33). Dr. Aitkin gives the formula of the famous lan^ore Pill (arsemous acid) extensively used in India (‘Science and Practice of Medicine, 6tli edition, p. 941),