Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 261, 18 August 1891 — DEATH'S DOMAINS. [ARTICLE]

DEATH'S DOMAINS.

(Co.NTINUED.) i It is a serious question if any; good purpose was served by allow-| ing three hundred persons to visit i the settlement ahd mingle freely ! with the iepers. It cannot be doubt-l ed that many cases will date from that d ay. lt is impossi ble to eome i in such iatimate relations with the lepers without being contaminatcd 1 with the disease. The office of the i Board of Health was besieged with j applicants for passport and many{ were issued there and at the wharf and on board, andmany went ti*ithout permits, nianv of those who had them made the trip without being called 6n to show them. It was prāctically free.to ail who could get on board« | What mogt surprised the -writer ab'out the managemeut of the settlement was the fact that the patietits there receive no treatment for leprosy. They arefed and the desease is allowed to develop and run its slow course to the. grave uninterfered with. They» are only treated for any current troublē. The leperB desire te have a pbylician to treat leprosy. The one who addressed the Queen said: 4 'From the four corners of the earth. we see glimmering lights imparting good news to us that there is yet hope for us who are afflicted with tbis dreadfui malad}'. Bring them hither. Here we are in death, this is our grave." It is true that there are many reports of the efficiency of certain remedies. But as the father in eharge at Kalaupapa said it would be aimost impossible t# subject tweive hundred lepers to continuous treatment» It would take a hundred doctors and tons of expensivē medicines. But there are a great many mild oases thatcught to be treated at a hospital near Honolulu. It is agreed by medieal men that incipient forms ean be benefited and the progress of the disease arrested. In regard to Calmagoora oil all who haveused it report that it heals 'np the leprmis sores. It has the advantage of being a eheep oil of.com ruerce. Ought Tiot the 6oard of Hoalth to ship a few b%rrels to Molokai. The gargan nut, and calicylic and pyrogallie acids are known to re« duce the tubercios;. aad electricity ū> be eiHcaciouB in restoring the sensibility pf the an eethetic parts. \VitU the remedieg mueh ean he | done, and if no cares are ,efiected V)atient§ ean be prevented froai be«omiiig total \vrecks. When the yettlement wns flr*t start'>d in 1804 the eondition of "things thore \vore imme:isurably \vorse .ihan n nw V\kkl, clotives, shMters vvcre all w.inting. .ljepers roiud without an et?brt being made to hrlp iheui. Thc distMsed appearv d in il? form

and raii*s>vil3tly' cōurs«. The KH3rta]ity was «8 higb as 25 Bercent, that ie, the average life was only four years. Now the murtB,lity is only eleven per cent and the average life about nine years. This improveraent is mostly dne to better Jtreatment, This been accompliphed and more ean. be done. Is there hope for a cure ? Decidedly there are the best for the belief that a will be found within a few vears, The hope is founded on ihe work of science. Science is founded ou'| exact knowledge. Garefni study | and accurate bbservation*. carefui« ( and intelligent experiment :ire almost sure to expose the cause and discover the remedy. Tbe way is open.. In the course of huinan development it has frequently happened that some discoverv has i opened the way for vast stridēs in j ! advance. ' | I 'To be Continued. ]