Newsgroups: sci.bio
Path: utzoo!censor!geac!nixtdc!jhm
From: jhm@nixtdc.uucp (John H. McMullen)
Subject: Early work on Hansen's disease -- request for reference
Message-ID: <1990Dec19.235854.17877@nixtdc.uucp>
Summary: Would like reference for anecdote
Keywords: Hansen's disease, leprosy, contagious
Organization: Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 90 23:58:54 GMT

About three-quarters of a decade ago, when I was still a biology undergrad,
I was reading about Hansen's disease, and I ran across a fascinating
anecdote.  It stuck in my mind, I mentioned it to others, and now -- years
later -- I've been asked for the source (friend of mine passed it along to
rec.arts.sf-lovers and got challenged).  It's not in any of my texts at
home (Braude's Microbiology, Shorter Bergey's -- though there aren't many
anecdotes in there!) and I'm not likely to be able to get to a decent library
until well after the holidays.  So I appeal to all of you.

The anecdote:

(After a discussion of a sailor probably contracting it from a tattoo needle)

  Hansen's disease isn't that contagious, and a professor in the 40s
demonstrated this to his class by exposing them to the organisms.
Unfortunately for him, several of the class contracted it.

It certainly has the appearance of an urban myth, but I'm sure I saw it
in print (which is no guarantee that it's true, but I was more credulous
then).  I'd like to be able to shift the blame from my memory to the editor
or author of the text I saw it in.

Can anyone help find me a reference?

Thanks,

John McMullen
jhm@nixtdc.UUCP     or    jhmcmullen@watyew.waterloo.edu