Subject: Western Medicine in Sri Lanka
Hospital in Manipay, Ceylon 1847
Dr. Samuel Fisk Green was born in Green Hills, Worcester, Massachusetts in 1822. To his father William E Green and mother Julia
Plimpton, he was the 8th child of 11 children. After his schooling he was attracted to religion. In 1841 he went toNew York and took employment Protestant Episcopal Board of Missions. During this period he got interested in medical profession and gave up his employment and joined as a student in medicine. He graduated in 1845. In 1846, he offered himself to serve in American Mission and joined a team of missionaries as a missionary physician to go toCeylon (now Sri Lanka).
American Medical Missionary, Dr. Green's First Hospital in Manipay, 1847, Jaffna, Ceylon.
...the first batch of medical students to graduate in Ceylon were the pupils of Dr. Samuel Fiske Green of the American Mission in Jaffna. The Green hospital in Minipay and the FINS hospital in Jaffna were the pioneer medical training institutions in Ceylon 1847 - 1873......
...in 1887, the first Sinhalese female gave birth to a child in a London hospital. The mother of the child was a lace weaver (Sinhala/ Portuguese Beeralu) from Galle who arrived in London via a passenger ship. The pregnant woman concealed her delicate state and worked at the Ceylon pavilion as a demonstrator of the art of lace making Beeraluat the golden jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria. The baby (female?) was named "London Haamy" ...
...The Ceylon Branch of the British Medical Association, a long cherished dream of Dr. W.R. Kynsey had been finally inaugurated in 1887 with Dr. P.D. Anthonisz as the first President.....The Headquarters of the Association at Wijerama Mawatha ( McCarthy Road) is the former residence which was gifted to the Association by Dr. E.M. Wijerama originally from Kosgoda.. He was the first President of the Ceylon College of Physicians…
...the Portuguese (1505 - 1650?) introduced the "Misericorda" a house of mercy..... The Portuguese term "espirital" (Sinhala Ispirithlaya") for hospital was incorporated into the Sinhalese colloquial vocabulary...
...Tobacco cultivation was first introduced to Ceylon by the Portuguese. Captain General Don Antonio Masceranhas after consulting with native medical practitioners issued orders to the army that everyone should use tobacco as a precaution against the disease "Beriberi... . The description at the time resembled Cholera more than Beriberi"..
...the Portuguese introduced two diseases to Ceylon. Venereal disease and Yaws or Parangi which was contracted by the local population from slaves from Mozambique who were owned by the Portuguese...Yaws (also known as frambesia tropica, thymosis, polypapilloma tropicum, pian or parangi, "Bouba") is a tropical infection of the skin, bones and joints caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum pertenue....
...Smallpox made fearful ravages. The people called it "aukara" or curse of the gods and abandoned small pox patients in the jungles...
...The Portuguese imported Western Medicines to Ceylon via their headquarters in Goa. They also used drugs like opium and ganja called "Bhang"...
... C. H. de Soysa was born in 1836, the only son of Gate Mudaliyar Jeronis de Soysa and Francisca de Soysa. He married Lady Catherine de Soysa in 1863 and they were blessed with fourteen (14) children. He was a prominent Christian and one of the wealthiest land owners in Ceylon during his time, donated St. Mathias Church.. He owned more than 28,000 acres of rice fields, tea, rubber, coffee and coconut plantations mostly in Moratuwa, Colombo, Hanguranketha, Panadura, Marawila, Kandy and Galle. de Soysa also owned the Bagatalle Walauwa (Mansion) later named "Alfred House" and its 120 acres in Kollupitiya, Colombo. The Mansion and subsequently, the road, was named after a music bagatelle. A Bagatelle is a short piece of music, typically written for the piano. (example: Für Elisecomposed by Ludwig van Beethoven)
The property and the mansion was the former residence of Mr. Charles Pieris, brother of Sir James Pieris (pioneer in political reform and independence in Sri Lanka and a cousin of the legendary philanthropist Sir C H De Soysa.).Durdans Hospital stands on the location of the mansion. In 1879, C.H. de Soysa gifted the "Lying-in Home" for expectant mothers and instructions in midwifery followed. The “Lying-in Home” is now known as "De Soysa Maternity Hospital" to the public. He donated land and buildings to the Eye Hospital, Colombo and the Medical Research Institute (MRI) Colombo. Bacteriology Institute was gifted to the Medical College by C.H. De Soysa's eldest son in memory of his father.
Charles Henry de Soysa died in 1890 ironically enough from a bite of a mad dog for which there was no remedy inCeylon at that time. A statue was erected in his memory at the Lipton Circle in front of the Eye Hospital, Colombo.
The Cat’s Table Author: Michael Ondaatje –( a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist. He won the Booker Prize for his novel 'The English Patient'). In his fictional narrative, Ondaatje has created a fabric that holds a notable textural element of a somewhat relatively modern Sri Lankan lore. And that is the fable of the death of a well known Sri Lankan businessman (C.H. de Soysa) known for his munificence who was believed to have become the victim of voodoo. The Christian philanthropist was known for having founded hospitals through his philanthropy. The story goes that he had made a joke at the expense of a Bhikkhu (Buddhist priest) from Battaramulla. Playing on spoonerism he had jested at the Bhikkhu calling him ‘Muttara-balla’. ‘Muttara’ as the word would denote in Sinhala meaning urine and of course the world ‘balla’ meaning dog - ("urinating dog").
The offended Buddhist priest was believed to have been an exponent in voodoo and witchcraft, and had vowed vengeance upon the offender. Thereafter, during the course of the day he had been bitten by a dog, believed to have been in some accounts one of his own pets and a stray who had wandered into his property according to other versions, resulting in his immediate death. The reason for the death is supposedly stated in the death report as being a victim of rabies.)
..The Ceylon Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson in 1879 sanctioned the inauguration of the Medical School in Colombo. All that remains of the School is the clock tower erected in memory of the second principal Dr. Edwin Koch. He died in 1877 at the age of 40 years from a wound received while performing a post-mortem!...
..In 1880, the Medical School was elevated to College status at the recommendation of Dr. William Raymond Kynsey. The road from the General Hospital to the Kanatte cemetery was named "Kynsey Road" in his memory. Some see it as a token of grim humor to Dr. Kynsey's memory (Birth/death at the General hospital and the cortege or funeral procession takes a route via Kynsey Road to the Raymonds Funeral parlor and later a burial/cremation at the Kanatte cemetery)...
...In 1892, women were allowed to enter the Medical College, Colombo...
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...Queen Victoria granted full recognition of the medical degrees of Ceylon Licentiates thereby the liberty to practice medicine in Britain. The Diploma was changed to LMS. Some gave the acronym LMS a humorous interpretation (LMS - License to Murder the Sick)...
..... One striking feature is that the volume contains an array of little known information on various facets of public life in the Ceylon. For example, the birth of the Rotherfield Institute (Mental hospital?) in the 1920s focusing on psychology and mental health is described...
..Uniform penal diet in Ceylon prisons was introduced in 1867 as a disciplinary measure. The diet consisted of rice with salt served twice a day with plain rice conjee (rice porridge or gruel) for breakfast. This penal diet was enforced for the first 10 days of each month for 6 months. Dr. P.D. Anthonisz thought that diet should not be made an instrument of punishment! An inquiry was held which proved that the penal diet had no effect on the bowels. ( UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners- A healthy, well-balanced diet should be supplied to all persons in custody in accordance with prison regulations. A change of diet can be obtained following approval of the Medical Officer).
..."Lunatics are not criminals" said Dr. P.D. Anthonisz (1880?) Accordingly, mental patents were separated from the general prison population and (11 males and 3 females) transferred to the Lunatic Asylum, Colombo..
...only Christians had cemeteries (provided by the church municipalities?).. the natives (Sinhala, Tamil, Muslims etc.) buried/cremated their dead in the garden...
...Dr. Walter G. Wickremasinghe from Galle is recorded as the first Ceylonese to attend the Harvard MedicalSchool perhaps in the early part of last century. He obtained a LM.S (Ceylon), M.R.C.P (London), attended theHarvard Medical School and specialized in Public Health. Dr. W.G. Wickremasinghe was appointed as the Director of Medical and Sanitary Services and was awarded the O.B.E. and C.M.G.(K.C.M.G?) by the British government in recognition of his services. He promoted health education by lectures in schools, illustrated by lantern slides on the problems of filaria, hookworm, malaria etc. He was in charge of eradicating bubonic plague in Galle in 1922. To prevent the spread of the disease, Dr. W.G. Wickremasinghe exterminated the enormous rat population in the sewers of Galle Fort. It was then that the little known network of Dutch brick laid drains (1650 -1780 era) was uncovered. He attended St. Johns College in the city of Panadura under Principal Cyril Jansz and later RoyalCollege, Colombo....
…..Dr. Ludovici of Galle drove a single cylinder British Rover car in 1910 and attended to his patients at their homes ..
(The notion of doctors making house calls in the US harkens back to an era before HMOs, medical centers and outpatient surgery centers)
…perhaps the first surgeon to be appointed to the Galle hospital was Jan Curstens of Tonningen, Holland in 1636. He arrived in the ship “Prince William". He worked as a barber on the ship. Later, he acquired the knowledge of local plants and herbs suitable for use in place of European drugs.... His salary was 60 guilders and was also given ten coconut trees to make oil and toddy (also used as an ingedient to make bread). The Galle hospital under the Dutch consisted of a senior surgeon and two assistants. In 1788, the City council provided a block of land for a fruit garden for the benefit of the hospital patients. A slave was allowed to look after the garden…The slaves were brought from the coast of Madagascar and/or East African coast to Ceylon by the Portuguese, Dutch and the English.
Parts of the information was obtained from the book "GALLE as quiet as asleep" by Norah Roberts -printed @ the Vijitha Yapa Publications, Colombo.
