Leprosy in India : a report / by T.R. Lewis and D.D. Cunningham.

  • Lewis, T. R. (Timothy Richards), 1841-1886.
Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Leprosy in India : a report / by T.R. Lewis and D.D. Cunningham. 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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    LEPEOSY IN INDIA. T. E. LEWIS, M.B., and D. D. CUNNINGHAM, M.B. [REPORT L] INTRODUCTION:—THE DISTRIBUTION OF LEPROSY IN BRITISH INDIA. It is only within the last few months that it has become possible to obtain definite inform- ITo definite enquiry regarding ation recfardin^ the local dis- the distribution of leprosy in India i m j_- t practicable until recently. ti'ibution and Comparative preva- lence of leprosy in the different districts of India. Now, however, that the Census Ueports of 1872 have been issued, persons interested in the subject are in a position to form as correct an opinion regarding, not only the aggregate number of lepers, but also the distribution of the infirmity in India, as' they are, probably, in almost any other country where leprosy prevails. In such a mass of figures it is doubtless probable that many errors have crept in, and that many persons have been registered as lepers who were not affected with true leprosy—notably such as are subject to that peculiar cutaneous affection characterised by more or less complete loss of pigment (Leucoderma). On the other hand, however, this excess may be balanced by the fact that quite as many, if not more, have been left out altogether. It is evident regarding the latter possibility, that as lepers formed one of the five i^l%:u:S^iZs'^^'''''°''^ classes of infirmities which were registered all over British India—the otliers being « Insanes,' Idiots, the Deaf- and-dumb, and the Blind—persons may have suffered from leprosy for years without having been looked upon as • Appeared ns nn Appendix to the Tioelflh Annual Report of the Sanilaru Commis- sioner with the Government of India.