Report on the parangi disease of Ceylon / prepared by W.R. Kinsey ; ordered by His Excellency the Governor to be printed.

  • Kynsey, William Raymond.
Date:
1881
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the parangi disease of Ceylon / prepared by W.R. Kinsey ; ordered by His Excellency the Governor to be printed. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    REPORT THE PARANGI DISEASE. INTRODUCTION. Although the existence of an obstinate chronic endemic disease has been known to exist in Ceylon for centuries, it is only within the last few years the subject attracted the serious attention of Government, and that attempts have been made to arrive at a correct opinion as to its origin, nature, and treatment. The following remarks, in 1866, by the Committee of the Legislative Council on Irrigation Works and Rice Cultivation may be said to have commenced the enquiry : — The frequent outbreaks of cholera, said to be introduced by Tamil immigrants, and the prevalence amongst the people for many years past of a very fatal disease reported to be of a syphilitic character, have committed great ravages. The Agent reports that last year the entire population of a village, with the exception of three of the inhabitants, was carried off by cholera. It may be further remarked, in reference to the loathsome disease already alluded to, that in the Vanni no man, woman or child is believed to be free from it. The Committee are of opinion that a professional enquiry should be instituted into the character and progress of this scourge with a view to its mitigation. In consequence of the above remarks, Colonial Surgeon Dr. James Loos, an experienced officer of the Department, Mas selected to report upon Parangi, with the following instructions from the Principal Civil Medical Officer, Dr. Charsley :-—* I have the honor to inform you that His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint you to report on the subject of the depopulation of the Vanni district, as recommended by the Irrigation Commission. Th>- disease, commonly known by the term Parangi, will naturally become the special object of your enquiry. Its history, the variety of its symptoms from its earliest stages to its termination, its influence on the health and longevity of the population, its predisposing causes, in regard to the habits, customs, diet, &c, of the people, and its hereditary tendency, are all points of interest into which I would suggest enquiry to be made, and—above all—as to whether there are any grounds for supposing that the disease is in any way connected with syphilis. I would, however, prefer to leave the details of the enquiry entirely to your own judgment, rather than to embarrass you with any instructions from myself. You are at liberty to select your own time and the districts you may desire to visit, keeping in mind that a full report is more to be desired than expedition in its compilation. I beg to enclose you some remarks which have been made on the subject by Mr. Eussell, which have been forwarded to me by Government :— As the attention of the Principal Civil Medical Officer has been called by Government to the depopulation of the Vanni. or Bintenna districts of the Island, hy the ravages of a disease, of which the precise character has yet to be ascertained, I take the liberty of offering a few remarks which may possibly tend to further the enquiry on this subject. In a Memorandum on the Demala-pattu, which I submitted to Government in 1860, I noticed the disease in the following terms :— ' This is the Parangi or Spanish-pox, of which many of the diagnostics are more or less syphilitic, although its origin is rarely, if ever, venereal. The Parangi arises in the majority of cases from a cut or scratch,which refuses to heal in consequence of the impoverished state of the patient's blood. The virus then attacks the system, generally breaking out first in pustules on the , face, and eventually covering the whole body with ulcers, while the sufferer rapidly declines in 'health and strength. The sickuess is not often immediately fatal, but it is tedious and entirely ruins the constitution of its victim. The principal medicament used for it by the natives is 'seenappa,' a kind of yam.f The Parangi is caused by a miserable diet, of which the chief constituent is a grain called kurakkan.J It bears considerable resemblance to the disease known as 'Pellagra,' which commits fearful havoc among the peasantry of Spain, Southern France, and Northern Italy. The Pellagra originates in the employment as food of diseased grain, and exhibits the symptoms of Borne cutaneous eruptions and frightful debility.' It appears to me that in order that the proposed enquiry may be effectual, it should be conducted by one or two active and intelligent Medical Officers, who should visit every portion of the Island in which the malady is endemic, and should carefully note the variations, if any, which it exhibits under differeut conditions of climate, and the modifications, if any, which domestic habits PARANGI DISEASE, Introduction to Repobt. * Instructions to Dr. Loos, dated February 19th, 1868. t Smilax chinensis. I Eleusine Corocana. [49]