Discussion.
Dr. G. C. Low asked if spirochaetae had been looked for in any cultures which had been made from Oriental sore. A pathological parallel was the parasite of ulcerating granuloma, for an organism which was either identical with that, or very like it, had been shown to occur in specific venereal sore, though it was not supposed to have a pathogenic function. The trend of opinion was indeed that all diseases of the granuloma type were due to spirochaetae, and he regarded it as at least probable that Oriental sore might safely be included in that category. It was not, he thought, proved that the parasite shown that evening was pathogenic of Oriental sore; it was perhaps only an extraneous parasite which had found a suitable medium. Sir Patrick Manson had not touched on the geographical distribution of kala-azar and Oriental sore, but an important point was that they did not correspond in that respect.
Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan said that he had been very much impressed by the success of a native remedy for Oriental sore on the northern frontier of India. He had seen more than one case, which had resisted hospital treatment for months, cured by the application, with pressure, of a flattened rifle-bullet cut to the shape of the sore.
Dr. Sambon said that formerly Oriental sore was considered merely a local disease, but the evidence was rapidly accumulating that it was constitutional. Immunity, he might say, did not preclude the possibility of relapse of a disease. Like malaria. Oriental sore might relapse even though immunity was being established by its own process. It should be borne in mind that exposure of the part was found to correspond with the lesion in other tropical diseases, such as pellagra, but a further and more important
