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(ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS) : Report on Leprosy By the Royal College of Physicians, Pepared for Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, with an Appendix

Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1867

A very good copy in dark green plain unlettered binder's cloth, front hinge splitting along most of its length externally, title page detached , first two text leaves with transverse tears to lower portion with no text loss, else a clean tight example of this scarce and important report. Conducted and published before the identification of the bacillus, The Report on Leprosy by the Royal College of Physicians (1867) originated from a suggestion to the College by James Walker, Governor-in-Chief of the Windward Isles, that reports be gathered on the ''character and progress of the disease of leprosy'' (p. a2). This grew out of concern that leprosy was ''on the increase.'' The survey was conducted by sending out a series of interrogatories to the colonies and related areas where leprosy may have been prevalent. There were seventeen questions. Respondents were asked if leprosy was known in their colony; to describe it as it occurred there; to enumerate its forms or outward manifestations; to give an opinion as to whether there were only varieties of the one disease or if there were distinct diseases; to describe the distinguishing characteristics of each form; to generalize about the age and the time of life at which the symptoms of the disease, its full development, and its most fatal stage became apparent; to generalize about its prevalence with respect to sex, race, and social group; to describe the topographical character of the place, and the sanitary conditions where it is prevalent; to describe the habits of the afflicted, their diet, occupations, and any conditions or circumstances of life that would seem to aggravate the disease; to suggest if they considered that it was hereditary, related to yaws, syphilis, or any other disease, and if they knew of instances where it had been communicated by contagion or by sexual intercourse; to note whether the afflicted were permitted to mix with others in the colony; to indicate what public provision was made for the reception and treatment of those with the disease who were poor; to estimate how long it had been in the colony, and if they had observed any results from hygienic, dietetic, and medical treatment, or if they had any cures to report; and, finally, to estimate the proportion of leprosy patients in the overall population of the colony.

First Edition

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