Report on the treatment of leprosy with gurjun oil and other remedies in hospitals of the Madras Presidency.

Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the treatment of leprosy with gurjun oil and other remedies in hospitals of the Madras Presidency. 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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    No. 416. OFFICE OF SURGEON-GENERAL, INDIAN MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, Fort Saint George, 17th July 1876. From Surgeon-General E. G. BALFOUR, Surgeon-Oeneral, Indian Medical Department, Fort St George. To The chief SECRETARY to GOVERNMENT, Public Department, Fort St. George, SiR—With reference to G.O., No. 937, dated 24th August 1874, , and the orders as per margin, I have the honor G.O., No. 1,017, of 12th , , ., , -rr- ,i ^ • /-t -i August 1875, Public to submit to His Grace the Governor in Council Department. pr^cis of the results of the treatment of Leprosy G.O., No. 1,296, of 25th r _ r J October 1875, Public in this Presidency with gurjun oil, as also the Department. reports in full of such medical officers as have had opportunities of treating patients with the remedy. 2. Leper Hospital, Madras.—Surgeon Thompson of the 1st Madras District is in charge of this institution. He bears testimony to the improvement in the general health of patients, and to the comfort which they derive from the use of gurjun oil. He states, however, that the course of the disease is divided into various stages, each of which is characterised by a group of symptoms or appearances, and that the absorption of tubercle and temporary return of sensation to parts previously numb may be simply passing changes incidental to the natural course of the disease. He then gives a brief summary of his experience in the use of the oil and concludes by saying, that the gurjun oil does not possess any intrinsic value in the cure of leprosy. As a cheap and unctuous oil, it is well adapted to carrying out the principle of daily exercise instituted by Surgeon-Major Dougall, which, with other hygienic conditions included in his mode of treatment of this disease, has done much good in improving the health, condition, and general comfort of the patients. Internally administered it is a useful purgative, described by the patients as producing a very pleasant