In October, around the time of making another trip to Tokyo, he began to experience difficulty in walking due to hip pain which was first thought of as rheumatism but in the following year (1896), it was diagnosed as an onset of spinal caries caused by tubercle bacillus affecting the spine.
この年10月に再上京する途上の頃より腰痛で歩行に困難を来すようになり、当初はリューマチと考えていたが翌・明治29年（1896年）、結核菌が脊椎を冒し脊椎カリエスを発症していると診断される。