PRELIMINARY REPORT ON AN INVESTIGATION INTO
THE ETIOLOGY OF ORIENTAL SORE IN CAMBAY.

IN June 1910 I was placed on special duty, in order to investigate the
etiology of Oriental Sore in India, and on learning from Dr. Row that this
well known skin disease is endemic in Cambay, I went there in order to study
it under the most favourable conditions; the main object of my enquiry was
to try and find out exactly how the parasite of Oriental Sore is transmitted in
nature. I spent in all six and a half months in Cambay and during that time
saw about sixty typical cases, and was able to collect a large amount of valu-
able information regarding the etiology of the disease. As I hope in due
course to write a complete account of my investigations, describing the disease
as I saw it in Cambay, as well as the life history of the parasite, I do not pro-
pose in this paper giving any great detail, but merely recording my feeding
experiments, so that others who are working at this, or allied parasites, may
avail themselves of the results of my work.

      Oriental Sore is said to have existed in Cambay for the last 250 years and
probably was introduced from Persia; it is definitely localised to the town
itself and hardly ever occurs among the villagers living in the surrounding
country, except among those who make a short or prolonged stay in the town
of Cambay. It was extremely difficult to obtain any accurate information, as
to whether the disease shewed any tendency to spread among the villagers
when introduced by infected people coming from Cambay. Recently Major
Liston, I.M.S., saw a typical case of Oriental Sore in a girl in Bombay, who
had never been to Cambay, but had resided in Gogo, a seaport town opposite
Cambay, which holds much communication with it. This case clearly shews
that the disease has a tendency to spread outside the endemic area.

      During my stay in Cambay I lived in the dâk bungalow, a small house
kindly lent me by His Highness the Nawab. It was situated just on the out-
skirts of the town, about a quarter of a mile distant, and close to it was the
railway station. It is important to note that no one living in this locality
contracted the disease although it was so near the town.

      The day after my arrival in Cambay, I visited the local schools and select-
ed a suitable case for experiments, a boy aged 10 who had a large fresh sore
situated on the anterior surface of the lower third of his left thigh, which on
examination was found to be eminently suitable for experimental purposes.