Curiosities of Medical Experience Part 21

From the chin it extended over the entire body, and on its disappearance left scars more unsightly, if possible, than the former disease. Its virulence and difficulty of cure induced the Romans to send to Egypt for attendance. The same disease prevailed in the second century, and Sora.n.u.s, a physician of Aquitania, was sent for to heal it. Crispus, a friend of Galen, is said to have discovered the best method of cure. Pliny has given an accurate account of the mentagra in his Natural History, lib. xxvii.

cap. 1. According to the same writer, elephantiasis was brought to Rome by Pompey's troops. Plutarch fixes its apparition to the time when Asclepiades of Bithynia flourished as one of his disciples. Themison wrote a treatise on the disease, which is mentioned by Caelius Aurelia.n.u.s, but has not been preserved from the ravages of time. Lucilius called the affection _odiosa Vitiligo_. The _Gemursa_ of Pliny appears to have been a similar complaint; and Triller thinks that it was the _Gumretha_ of the Talmud.

Formerly, in England, the causes of lepers were committed to the ecclesiastical courts, as it was prohibited to prosecute a leper before a lay judge, as they were under the protection of the church, which separated them from the rest of the people by a ritual. At this period a law existed, called _Leproso amovendo_, for the removal of lepers who ventured to mix in society. Thus leprosy may be considered one of the most terrific maladies inflicted on mankind. Holy Writ affords us abundant proofs of its fatal character. It is probable that this disease was first observed under the scorching sun of Egypt, whence it spread its ravages to Greece and Asia; and when the East was obliged to submit to the Roman legions, the conquerors carried the scourge of the vanquished to their own country. From Italy the disorder extended to France; and in the reign of Philip I. we find some members of the church militant, called _hospitaliers_, who spent their arduous life in attending upon lepers, and waging war against the infidels.

The Hebrew tribes, on quitting Egypt, were subject to three kinds of leprosy; all of them were distinguished by the name of _Berat_ ([Hebrew]), or "bright spot." One called _Boak_ ([Hebrew]), of a dull white; and two named _Tsorat_ ([Hebrew]), or "venom or malignity:" the first variety of the latter being the _Berat Lebena_, or bright white berat; and the next the _Berat Cecha_, or the dark and dusky berat; both of which were highly contagious, and rendered those who laboured under their attack unclean, and dangerous to society.

Manetho, Justin, and several historians, pretend that the Hebrews were expelled from Egypt in consequence of their being infected with this formidable disease; a reproach from which Josephus attempted to exculpate his countrymen. It appears, however, that, during their captivity of one hundred and thirty-four years, the Israelites laboured under this awful visitation; and, three thousand years after their migration we find Prosper Alpinus describing the banks of the Nile as the princ.i.p.al seat of the disease. Lucretius gives the same account of it:

Est Elephas morbus, qui, propter flumina Nili Gignitur, aegypto in media, neque praeterea usquam.

Pliny and Marcellus Empiricus refer the calamity to the same source. They state, however, that it was more general in the lower cla.s.ses, although it sometimes attacked their sovereigns; an event which added to the horrors of the infliction, since it appears that royalty had the privilege of bathing in human blood as one of the most effectual curative means. Gaul and Avicenna attribute its fatal prevalence in Alexandria to the influence of the climate, and the quality of their food. The Persian writer thus expresses himself: "Et quando aggregatur caliditas aeris c.u.m malitia cibi, et ejus essentia ex genere piscium, et carne salita, et carne grossa, et carnibus asinorum, et lentibus, procul dubio est ut eveniat lepra, sicut multiplicatur in Alexandria."

The _Boak_, or slighter berat, which is not considered to be contagious, still bears the same denomination amongst the Arabs, and is the [Greek: lepra alphos] or dull white leprosy of the Greeks. The bright white and dusky berats of the Hebrews were distinguished on account of their malignity, and with the _Tsorat_ ([Hebrew]) are still called among the Arabians by the Hebrew generic term with a very slight alteration, for the _Berat Lebena_ is their _Beras Bejas_, and the _Berat Cecha_, the _Beras Asved_.

While the Arabians borrowed the Hebrew terms, the Greeks took their denominations from the same source; and from _Tsorat_ they adopted the word _Psora_. The _Tsorat_ is restrained by the Hebrews to the contagious form of leprosy. Amongst the Greeks Lepra was a generic synonyme of _Berat_ or _Beras_.

This confusion in the adaptation of the names given to the varieties of leprosy has occasioned much perplexity in the study of the disease.

Actuarius, in endeavouring to rectify these errors, has produced a greater confusion. According to him, they are different forms of a common genus.

However, the most important distinction was that which defined the contagious and the non-contagious forms. The leprosy described by Moses under the name of _Boak_ or _Bohak_ was the [Greek: alphos] of Hippocrates; _Seeth_ the [Greek: phakos]; _Saphachath_ and _Misphachath_ the [Greek: leichen]; and _Bahereth_ the [Greek: leuke]; and according to Carthenser and other writers, this leprosy was the _Leuce_ of the Greeks.

The elephantiasis was long confounded with leprosy; but the former is a tubercular affection of the skin, widely different from the scaly leprosy, and certainly not contagious. Its singular name was derived from the condition of the surface of the huge misshapen limbs of those who were affected with the malady, and which bore some resemblance to the leg of an elephant. This morbid state is not uncommon in the island of Barbadoes, and in England it has been called "the Barbadoes leg." The original Arabic name for this affection was _Dal Fil_, or "the elephant's disease," which is now the common denomination; although it is frequently abridged into _Fil_ alone, literally _Elephas_. The elephantiasis is not even alluded to by Moses in his descriptions of leprosy. However, the elephant leg of the Arabians is a disease totally different from the specific elephantiasis, which is a disorder of the skin, the roughness of which led to the name, and which the Arabians called _Juzam_ or _Judam_.

These errors of description amongst medical writers have of course occasioned much obscurity and perplexity in the productions of travellers and historians, who have generally confounded all these diseases with the Hebrew leprosy, or the leprosy which for so long a period desolated the fairest portions of Europe, where every country was crowded with hospitals established for the exclusive relief of the malady. The number of leper-houses, as they were denominated, has been singularly exaggerated.

Paris has been made to a.s.sert that there were nineteen thousand of these hospitals, whereas he merely stated that the Knights Hospitalers, under various patron saints, but more particularly St. Lazarus, were endowed with nineteen thousand manors to support their extensive establishments; and he thus clearly expressed himself: "_Habent Hospitalarii novemdecim millia maneriorum in Christianitate_." It appears that in the reign of Louis VIII., France had no less than two thousand of these hospitals.

Leprosy was well known in the eighth century, and St. Ottomar and St.

Nicholas, were considered the first founders of establishments for its treatment in France and in Germany. The Crusaders, however, by their connexions with the East, materially increased its inroads in Europe, and the disgusting malady appears to have been considered as a proof of holiness. Moehser, in his work "_De medicis equestri dignitate ornatis_," informs us that the Knights of the order of St. Lazarus were not only intrusted with the care of lepers, but admitted them into their n.o.ble order: their Grand Master was himself a leper. The Crusaders, returning from their useless wars, eaten up with the disease, received the honourable distinction of being _pauperes Christi, morbi beati Lazari languentes_. The most distinguished individuals in the land attended upon them with the utmost humility; and Robert, King of France, used to wash and kiss their filthy feet to keep himself in odour of sanct.i.ty. All these attentions, however, did not always prevent the lepers from complaining of their complicated sufferings, but they were exhorted by holy men (who of course had never experienced the miseries of the malady) to be of good comfort, as their illness was a blessed favour conferred upon them as the elect of the land. St. Louis thought the Sire de Joinville an unbeliever; for having once asked him which he would prefer, being a _mezieu_ or _laide_ (a leper), or having to reproach his conscience with any mortal sin, his favourite replied to the singular question, that he would rather be guilty of thirty deadly sins; whereupon the sanctified monarch severely rebuked him by telling him in the quaint language of the times, "Nulle si laide mezeuerie n'est, comme de estre en peche mortel."

Notwithstanding the sanct.i.ty of their disease, lepers were by various laws separated from the healthy portion of the community. The ceremonies used on these occasions were curious; and we find the following description of them in the History of Bretagne: A priest in his sacerdotal robes went to the leper's dwelling, bearing a crucifix. He was then exhorted to submit with resignation to the affliction: he afterwards threw holy water upon him, and conducted him to church. There he was stripped of his ordinary vestments, and clothed in a black garment; he then knelt down to hear ma.s.s, and was again sprinkled with holy water. During these ceremonies, the office for the dead was duly sung, and the leper was finally led to his destined future residence. Here he again knelt, received salutary exhortations to be patient, while a shovelful of earth was thrown on his feet. His dwelling was most diminutive: his furniture consisted of a bed, a water-jug, a chest, a table, a chair, a lamp, and a towel. He further received a cowl, a gown, a leathern girdle, a small cag with a funnel, a knife, a spoon, a wand, and a pair of _cliquettes_, (a sort of castanets,) to announce his approach. Before leaving him, the priest added another blessing to these gifts, and departed, after commanding him under the severest penalties never to appear without his distinctive apparel, and barefooted; never to enter a church, a mill, or a baker's shop; to perform all his ablutions in streams and running waters; never to touch any article he wanted to purchase, except with his wand; never to enter drinking-houses, but to buy his liquor at their doors, having it poured into his barrel by means of the funnel graciously given him for that purpose; never to answer any question unless he was to windward of his interlocutor; never to presume to take a walk in a narrow lane; never to touch or go near children, or look at a good-looking wench; and only to eat, drink, and junket with his brother lepers; and invariably to announce his unwelcome approach by rattling his castanets.

The offsprings of these sequestrated creatures were seldom baptized; and when this rite was performed, the water was thrown away. After this oration his ghostly adviser took his final leave, and the patient's former dwelling was burnt to the ground. The sepulchre of St. Mein, in Britanny, was frequently visited by these poor creatures; and on such occasions they were obliged to have both their hands covered with woollen bags, as a distinguishing mark amongst the other pilgrims. Lepers were only allowed to intermarry with fellow-sufferers; yet we find in one of the Decretals of St. Gregory, that any woman who chose to run the chances of contagion could please her fancy. St. Gregory perhaps thought this the most effectual method of preventing the dreaded intercourse, as most probably, had it been prohibited, lepers would have been in great request, they having always been notorious for their amorous propensities. Muratori informs us that these unfortunate persons did not always submit quietly to these severe regulations, but several times joined the Jews in a revolt against the authorities.

This affliction has been observed in various countries. In Iceland it is called _Likraa_; in Norway, _Radesyge_ or _Spedalskhed_. It is to be apprehended that many of these cases of leprosy belong more particularly to the elephantiasis: such is the red disease of Cayenne, and the _Boasi_ of Surinam.

It is especially in the East, its probable original seat, that leprosy is observed. In Damascus there are two hospitals for its treatment. The waters of the Jordan are still considered efficacious in its cure, and the waters of Abraham's well are looked upon as a specific. In Candia the disease was common, and lepers were noted for their obscene profligacy.

From Crimea it has also been carried to Astracan, whence it infected the Cossacks of Jack. Pallas and Gmelin have given an accurate account of its invasion.

THE ASPIC.

Various opinions are entertained respecting the reptile that inflicted the fatal sting on Cleopatra. According to Pliny, it had hollow fangs, which distilled the venom in the same manner as the tail of the scorpion. aelian states it to have been a snake that moves slowly, covered with scales of a reddish colour, his head crowned by callous protuberances, his neck becoming swollen and inflated when he sheds his poisonous secretion. Other naturalists affirm that the scales are shining, and the eyes of a dazzling brightness; while some authorities maintain that the reptile's hue is of a dark brown colour, and that, like the chameleon, it can a.s.sume the colour of the ground on which it drags its writhing form. However, later observers have now clearly ascertained that the aspic of the ancients is the _coluber haje_, called by the Arabs _nascher_, and cla.s.sed by Lacepede as the Egyptian viper. Lucan seems to have described this serpent in the following lines:

Hic, quae prima caput movit de pulvere tabes Aspida somniferum tumida cervice levarit.

According to Ha.s.selquist, the aspic's head is raised in a protuberance on both sides behind the eyes; the scales which cover the back are small, of a dirty white colour, and speckled with reddish spots. The lower surface of the reptile is striated with one hundred and eighteen small parallel zones, and forty-four smaller ones are under the tail. The teeth resemble in their structure those of other vipers; and, when the animal is irritated, its neck and throat are swelled up to the size of the body.

Authors vary in regard to its length. Ha.s.selquist, from whom we have derived the above description, says that it is a short reptile; while Savary a.s.sures us that it sometimes measures six feet.

The ancients stated that the poison of the aspic did not occasion any pain, but that the person it had stung gradually sunk into a calm and languid state, which was followed by a sound sleep, the forerunner of dissolution. Modern travellers a.s.sure us, on the contrary, that this venom is most active; and Ha.s.selquist has observed an aspic in Cyprus, the bite of which brought on a rapid mortification, which generally proved fatal in a very few hours.

In Egypt the viper is still made use of in medicinal preparations; and a great number of them are sent to Venice for the confection of the celebrated _Theriaca_. Under Nero, we are told, that these reptiles were imported into Rome for pharmaceutical purposes.

In the above description, and endeavour to ascertain the nature of the aspic of the ancients, there must be some error. The _coluber aspis_ of Linnaeus is not venomous, and we may therefore conclude that the aspic was of the same species as our viper. The venom of this animal is of a yellow tinge, and small in quant.i.ty, seldom exceeding two grains in weight. In hot weather it becomes more active in its effects. Time does not seem to deprive it of its fatal properties; for instances have been known of persons having p.r.i.c.ked their fingers with the pointed fangs of a viper preserved in spirits, when the most serious accidents have followed. The dried teeth lose this noxious power. The venom of the viper may be swallowed without any risk, provided there is not an ulcer in the mouth.

Fontana has made upwards of six thousand experiments to prove the activity of this substance. A sparrow died under its influence in five minutes, a pigeon in eight or ten; a cat sometimes did not experience any inconvenience, a sheep seldom or never; and the horse appears to be proof against its action.

Some naturalists have affirmed that the female viper, in cases of sudden alarm, possesses the faculty of securing the safety of her young by swallowing them and keeping them concealed in her stomach, as the kangaroo secures her offspring in her pouch. This a.s.sertion, although fabulous, was credited by Sir Thomas Brown, and since by Dr. Shaw. Stories equally absurd have been circulated of this reptile. The Egyptians considered the viper as a typification of a bad wife, since they believed that during their union the female was in the habit of biting off her partner's head.

They also looked upon it as the emblem of undutiful children, from the idle belief that the viper came into the world by piercing an opening in its mother's side.

SELDEN'S COMPARISON BETWEEN A DIVINE, A STATESMAN, AND A PHYSICIAN.

If a physician sees you eat any thing that is not good for the body, to keep you from it he cries out "It is _poison_!" If the divine sees you do any thing that is hurtful to your soul, to keep you from it he cries out "You are _d.a.m.ned_!"

To preach long, loud, and d.a.m.nation, is the way to be cried up. We love a man who d.a.m.ns us, and we run after him again to save us. If a man has a sore leg, and he should go to an honest and judicious surgeon, and he should only bid him keep it warm, or anoint it with some well-known oil that would do the cure, haply he would not much regard him, because he knows the medicine beforehand to be an ordinary medicine. But if he should go to a surgeon that should tell him, "Your leg will be gangrene within three days, and it must be cut off; and you will die, unless you do something that I could tell you," what listening there would be to this man! "Oh! for the Lord's sake, tell me what this is:--I will give you any contents for your pains."

This ingenious antiquary has also made some quaint comparisons between doctors of the body and doctors of the public interests. "All might go on well," he says, "in the commonwealth, if every one in the parliament would lay down his own interest and aim at the general good. If a man was rich, and the whole college of physicians were sent to him to administer to him severally; haply, so long as they observed the rules of art, he might recover. But if one of them had a great deal of scammony by him, he must put off that; therefore will he prescribe scammony; another had a great deal of rhubarb, and he must put off that; therefore he prescribes rhubarb: and they would certainly kill the man. We destroy the commonwealth, while we preserve our own private interests and neglect the public."

Grotius called John Selden "the honour of the English nation;" and Bacon had such an implicit faith in his judgment, that he desired in his will that his advice should be taken respecting the publication or suppression of his posthumous works.

THE LETTUCE.

Various species of this plant were known to the ancients. Its type is supposed to be the _Lactuca quercina_, or the _Lactuca scariola_; both of Asiatic origin. Many powerful effects were formerly attributed to its use.

It was considered as producing sleep, and recovery from intoxication; it was in consequence of this belief that this salad was served up after meals. Thus Martial tells us,

Claudere quae coenas Lactuca solebat avorum, Die mihi cur nostras inchoat illa dapes.

Columella thus describes its properties:

Jamque salutari properet Lactuca sapore Tristia quae relevet longi fastidia mori.

This belief in its narcotic qualities induced the ancients to esteem it as an aphrodisiac: the Pythagoreans had therefore named it [Greek: eunouchion]; and Eubulus calls it the food of the dead, _mortuorum cib.u.m_.

Venus covered the body of her beloved Adonis with lettuce-leaves to calm her amorous grief; and vases, in which they were planted, were introduced in the Adonian festivals. Galen, who had faith in its powers, called it the herb of sages, and in his sleepless nights sought its influence by eating it at supper. It was also frequently put under the pillow of the rich to lull them to repose. Its cooling qualities were so much dreaded by the Roman gallants, that its use was abandoned; but Augustus's physician, Antonius Musa, having calmed by its prescription his master's uneasiness in a hypochondriac attack, lettuce recovered its popularity: a statue was erected to the doctor, and salad once more became the fashion, although the prejudices against it could not be removed. Lobel informs us that an English n.o.bleman, who had long wished for an heir, but in vain, was blessed with a numerous family by leaving off this Malthusian vegetable.

MEDICAL FEES.

Such is the perversity of our nature, that the remuneration given with the greatest reluctance is the reward of those who restore us, or who conscientiously endeavour to restore us to health. The daily fees, it is true, are not handed with regret, for the patient is still suffering; but if they were to be allowed to acc.u.mulate to a considerable amount, they would be parted with, with a lingering look. The lawyer's charges for a ruinous litigation, the architect's demands for an uncomfortable house, are freely disbursed, though if exorbitant they may be taxed; but the doctor's--a guinea a visit!--is sheer extortion. 'Send for the apothecary: the physician merely gives me advice; the apothecary will send me plenty of physic: at any rate I shall have something for my money.'