LEPROSY IN NEW ZEALAND

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2262, 24 October 1889, Page 2

LEPROSY IN NEW ZEALAND

One of the results of the voluntary martyrdom of the heroic Father Damien among the lepers of Molokai has been to call attention to the existence of this terrible disease m hitherto unsuspected quarters, and to bring about an earnest desire on the part of thousands of earnest philanthropists to alleviate the sufferings, of its victims. The enquiries which have been set afoot have brought to light the fact that tbe disease now has, aud always has had "_a foothold among the Maori race — particularly, and indeed almost exclusively, m the North Island — having according to Maori tradition been brought hither from Hawaiki. This last fact, if it bo a fact, goes far to corroborate tho theory that the land whence tho Maori emigrated to New Zealand is none other than the Sandwich Islands ', the scene of the labors oi the martyr of Molokai. A medical correspondent of the " New Zealand Herald " says that the mid-island settlements, i c. , about Taupo, Tokaanu, Kouutu, and other villages m the neighborhood of the Hot Lakes, are the head-quarters of the disease, and that while on a visit to the district m question, five or six years ago, he interviewed a good many lepers who were Buffering from various phases oi this terrible malady. He, however, adds that there are also many isolated cases among the native population m other localities. The form of disease which prevails at those villages is, says the writer, •* apparently of that kind | which is known to the faculty as the I * ana_othetib' or ' non-tuberoulated,' and people affected with it live for years, frequently dying of other disorders. There is another, and more virulent form, whioh does not seem to exist, so far as my observation went, among the natives. The pain m the former is not usually severe, and the stricken ones go about their usual avocations. The end is, however, certain, though often long delayed." That the leprosy referred to is, though not of the most malignant kind , sufficiently terrible is shown by the following further quotation from the same authority :— •• Among those who came under my notice were some m the preliminary, or perhapß, I might say, primary stage. They presented no marked symptoms to the casual observer, though all exhibited, on closer inspection, peculiar dull, dead, whitish patches on the skin, and characteristically orooked, deformed, and enlarged joints of tho fingers and toes. They suffered no pain. In others, again, mlceration had commenced — - had been m progress indeed for years, and they had lost one or more joints of both toes and fingers. They appeared to suffer little pain except that inseparable from the ulcerative process," but .exhaled a not far extending, but peculiarly offensive odour, whioh degenerated into a sickening fostor m other oases. These latter, who inhabited a * whare ' by themselves at Tokaanu, were supposed to be under the treatment of a Maori tohunga or priest, and exhibited many, if not all the symptoms of advanoed leprosy. The cartilages of their noses were sunken almost to a level with their faces, Their lips, cheeks, and eyelids were swollen, and presented a livid unnatural aspeot, not to be forgotten, and hardly to be t described. I did not prees for a further examination of the ulcerating hands and feet, whioh thoy kept concealed as well as they oould from view. I had seen, and, I may say, smelled enough." The writer states that the natives do not look upon the disease, which is known to them as *' ngeringcri" as contagious, but " justly regard it as hereditary," sometimes, however, missing a generation, adding the somewhat curious information that *« leprous ohildren are born of olean fathers and diseased mothers, usually — though by no mean 3 invariably, and vice versa rarely." The same species of lcj;.nsr. n** woll also as tbe more virulent tubercular leprosy also appears to exist m Cape Oolony principally among a half-caste race, partly Hotterslot and partly Malay. It has recently been revealed by an article m Blackwood (September number), that tbte Oolony referred to has an island lazaretto, like that of Molokai, know, a as Robben Island, whero no less than 180 lepers are shut up to d>- These poor creatures are described as "eminently of those who, m the words of the Apostle, die daily. By the anaesthetic leprosy they wither at the bone, and shrink into smaller and smaller proportions as their extremities slowly fade away ; by the tubercular leprosy, on the contrary, they swell bubblewise into extinction, both reaching their goal of nothingness by different ways. There is something worse than pain m the affeoted parts-— the loss of all sensation. They ape as tenants, of a body whioh is not their own. Only the mind retains its full capacity of suffering." Those Oape Oolony lepers are, it seems, " tended after a fashion, they have devoted doctors and clergy ; there is some rude provision for thoir material needs ; but their lives are totally wanting m tbe comfort which is the best assuagement of the moral torments induced by their terrible disease There is no wanton torture ; there is only neglect. The Oolony doleß out money on the outcasts with a grudging hand/ and it is urged that the Oqlonial Ofpce should use its influence with the Oape authorities with a view to : the mitigation of the miseries of these un • fortunates. It may also very properly be asked that tho attention of tbe New Zealand Government should bo directed to the condition of the lepers of the North Island, and that, if possible, provision should be made for thoir isolation and proper medioal treatment.

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