Page:Korea (1904).djvu/312

260 Indigestion is almost a national curse, the habit of eating rapidly large quantities of boiled rice and raw fish promoting this scourge. Toothache is less frequent than in other countries; diphtheria and typhoid are very rare, and scarlet fever scarcely exists. Typhus, malarial remittent fever, and relapsing fever are not uncommon. Venereal disease is about as general as it used to be in England.

In short, there is a preponderance of diseases which result from filthy habits, as also of those produced by the indifferent qualities of the food, and the small and overcrowded houses. Most of the diseases common to humanity present themselves for treatment in Korea.