No, There Are A Few Thousand Places I Wot Of
In This World Over Which I Would Select Molokai As A Place Of
Permanent Residence.
In the evening we went to one of the leper
assembly halls, where, before a crowded audience, the singing
societies contested for prizes, and where the night wound up with a
dance.
I have seen the Hawaiians living in the slums of Honolulu,
and, having seen them, I can readily understand why the lepers,
brought up from the Settlement for re-examination, shouted one and
all, "Back to Molokai!"
One thing is certain. The leper in the Settlement is far better off
than the leper who lies in hiding outside. Such a leper is a lonely
outcast, living in constant fear of discovery and slowly and surely
rotting away. The action of leprosy is not steady. It lays hold of
its victim, commits a ravage, and then lies dormant for an
indeterminate period. It may not commit another ravage for five
years, or ten years, or forty years, and the patient may enjoy
uninterrupted good health. Rarely, however, do these first ravages
cease of themselves. The skilled surgeon is required, and the
skilled surgeon cannot be called in for the leper who is in hiding.
For instance, the first ravage may take the form of a perforating
ulcer in the sole of the foot. When the bone is reached, necrosis
sets in. If the leper is in hiding, he cannot be operated upon, the
necrosis will continue to eat its way up the bone of the leg, and in
a brief and horrible time that leper will die of gangrene or some
other terrible complication.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 101 of 305
Words from 26871 to 27150
of 80724
