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Honolulu, and some in the outer districts, and more or less of them will, in time, become confirmed cases."
The same report shows that the cost of the "segregation, support, and treatment of lepers" for the biennial period closing March 31, 1892, was $224,331.88.
In regard to venereal diseases, so well known as prevalent in the Hawaiian Islands, the statement is made in the Medical Record for April, 1889, that the "effects of hereditary immunity ٭ ٭ ٭ has resulted in the production of a much milder form of the disease in the course of three or four generations. At the present day syphilis in the Sandwich Islands is comparatively a benign disease, and furnishes but a small contingent to the sum of mortality." The writer, Dr. P. A. Morrow, states that "not only has the disease moderated in severity, but, according to the testimony of numerous physicians, ٭ ٭ ٭ it has materially decreased in frequency." The writer also asserts the "comparative rarity of hereditary transmission" of syphilis in the islands, and explains it by the fact that the native Hawaiians of to-day are a sterile race. " In some of the districts the percentage of births does not exceed 2 per 1,000 instead of 2S per 1,000, as it should be, to balance the mortality rate."
Note.—The maps and charts mentioned in this paper omitted.
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VII. Also the following lecture, delivered at the u. s. national museum, february 9, and march 15, 1884, by capt. c. e. dutton, of the u.s. army in washington, d.c.
[Ordnance notes—No. 343, Washington, April 23, 1884.]
THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AND PEOPLE.
Lectures delivered at the U.S. National Museum February 9 and March 15,1884, under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution and of the Anthropological and Biological Societies of Washington.
[By Capt. C. E. Dutton, Ordnance Department, U. S. A., on U. S. Geological duty.]
Ladies and Gentleman: The Hawaiian Islands are the summits of a gigantic submarine mountain range. If the waters of the Pacific were removed from their vicinity we might behold a range of mountains as long as our Appalachian system, from Lake Champlain to Chattanooga, and quite as wide, with summits five times as high as Mount Washington. The summits of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea are nearly 14,000 feet above the ocean, and their bases are from 15,000 to 18,000 feet beneath it. Referred to the bottom of the ocean these mountains are higher than the Himalayas. Standing upon the northeastern coast of Hawaii the crest of Mauna Kea is less than 20 miles away, and is nearly 3 miles above us. At a distance of 30 miles at sea the ocean floor is about 31/2 miles below us. I am not aware of any other place in the world where, along a line less than 50 miles in length, may be found a difference in altitude of more than 6 miles.
The Hawaiian group consists of four larger and four smaller islands. The largest island is named Hawaii. It has a length of about 90 and a width of 70 miles. Its area is nearly 4,000 square miles, being a little less than two-thirds of the area of the entire group. It is not, however, the most populous, for that distinction belongs to the islands of Oahu, on which is situated the principal town and capital, Honolulu, which is the center of trade and the seat of the Government.
Only a small portion of each island is capable of sustaining a dense population. The interiors are mountainous and generally rough, craggy, and cut with profound gorges of the wildest description. The habitable portions are near the seacoast, forming a ring around each island; but only a part of each ring is habitable or cultivable. Some portions are arid and barren; others are covered with recent floods of lava, and still others are bounded by lofty rocky coasts, and trenched with ravines so deep and abrupt that access is difficult. Generally speaking, the proportion of habitable area is singularly small. But those portions which are well favored are probably capable of sustaining as dense a population as any tracts in the world.
The climate of these islands is the climate of Paradise. It is never hot, and, except at considerable altitudes, it is never cold. Rarely has the thermometer been known to reach 90° on the seacoast, or to fall below 65°. The temperature in most localities may be averaged the year round as varying between 75° and 85°. But while the temperature of any given locality is uniform, there is wonderful variety in the climate as we pass from one place to another. Indeed, there are almost as many climates as there are square leagues. As a rule the windward or eastern sides are rainy and the leeward sides dry. On the eastern coast of Hawaii the annual rainfall varies from 150 to 250 inches. On the northwest coast of the same island it is probably less than the