Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/424

 416 SUL It appears to affect chiefly the lower classes, but it is by no means con- fined to them. Its cause is quite unknown. Most probably it is some local condition connected with the food of the people. The consumption of arhar dál has been suggested as a cause, but this, like many other con- jectures regarding leprosy, seems to rest on very insufficient grounds. The disease appears to be, in many cases, hereditary. Goitre.- Goitre is almost unknown in the district. A few cases are to be met with on the border of the Fyzabad district, in some parts of which the disease is common, bnt the rest of the district is quite free from the disease. Stone -- Stone in the bladder is a not uncommon affection. From 10 to 20 cases are treated every year at the dispensaries, and there are pro- bably many inore that never apply there for treatment. There is no other important disease of a markedly endemic character in the district excepting perhaps sinople cholera which is noticed further on. Amongst less important diseases, however, may be mentioned two very common affections of the skin-the "dad," or dhobies itch and "senhwa," or scurf skin, both of which, if not peculiar to the natives of the country, affect them to a much greater extent than diseases of a similar nature do Europeans. The dád is a disease closely resembling ringworm, which attacks the loins, the fork of the thighs, or other moist parts, and often spreads exten- sively over the surface of the body. It is unpleasant in appearance, but does not appear to cause much inconvenience. It is easily cured by the application of a lime and sulphur lotion, but the snbject of it is usually too regardless of it to do anything for it. The senhwa is not so common. It attacks the neck, shoulders, and upper part of the body, appearing in small droplike patches which gradually coalesce, are covered with branny scales, and are paler than the surround- ing skin. It is identical with the Pityriasis Versicolor of Enrope. It is cnrable by the same means as the dád, but not so readily. Both diseases appear to be of parasitic vegetable origin, and their being so com- mon is no doubt due to the native custom of bathing in stagnant and usually filthy water, and dressing afterwards without drying the skin. Epidemic diseases. The diseases that prevail in the district in an epi- demic form are cholera and small-pox. Measles is probably sometimes present also, but judging from the experience of the last 6 or 7 years, it does not seem ever to become widely epidemic. Indeed, it does not appear at all amongst the names of diseases treated at the dispensaries, and the only reason the writer has for saying that it is probably to be met with is that he bas seen the disease in two contiguouis districts. Cholera was epidemic in the district in 1869 (the first year for which statistics are forthcoming), 1870, 1871, and 1872; since June, 1872, a period of more than two years, the disease has not appeared in an epidemic form, The epidemic of 1869 lasted from June to November, and is represented by the mortuary returns to have caused during that period about 2,000