Leprosy and leper houses / by Sir William Moore.

  • Moore, William James, 1828-1896.
Date:
[1890?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Leprosy and leper houses / by Sir William Moore. 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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    The Hospital’s Association Pamphlets. (No. 38.) / Leprosy and Leper Houses.^ BY SiE William Moobe., K.C.I.E. (Late Surgeon- General, Bombay Staff.) Lepeosy may perhaps not be so inviting a subject as some which have been brought before this association. A lady said to me the other day: “Well! I would not go to hear anything about leprosy, no! not for the world ! “ Why ! I should be sure to catch it!” To which I replied: “ Or think you had, which would be nearly as bad.” Now as I do not see any lepers here, I think I may safely guarantee you will not catch leprosy by hearing about it. And even if there were some lepers here, I would still guarantee that you would not contract it by sitting in this room with them. If it were communicable in such a manner I ought to have caught it several hundred times at least. Now although leprosy may not be a very inviting subject, it is neverless a vitally important one; for it is not only a medical question but also a great public one, and so demands the attention of all scientific associations. Moreover the insidious and progressive character of the malady, and the frightful deformities it occasions, are calculated to awake the greatest sympathy. Several causes have recently combined to bring the subject of leprosy prominently before the public. First we had the statement made some months ago by • the Eev. Mr. Wright, Kector of Grantham, who desired to make known to the world at large the important and highly interesting fact, that at last it had been shown by a terrible experiment at Honolulu, on a criminal condemned to death that leprosy may be communicated by inoculation. And since then the Eev. Mr. Wright has written a booklet on the matter and expresses a fear lest leprosy should spread in