Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Leprosy

LEPROSY, or Lepra, a cutaneous disorder, in which the skin is rough, with white eschars resembling bran, though they are sometimes most beneath the surface, and accompanied with an intense itching.

This loathsome distemper, though at present very rare in Britain, is sometimes caused by the gout; melancholy; by touching the torpedo; but more frequently arises from the eating of impure flesh, especially that of swine which had been infected with the murrain.

Various remedies have been devised for the cure of the leprosy: among these, mercury, both internally and externally; sea-water; the cold bath, and the purging mineral waters, have been successfully employed. The expressed juice of the common fumitory (in doses from 20 to 60 drops, frequently repeated), has likewise been prescribed with advantage; and, according to Dr. Lettsom, a decoction of the inner bark of the elm has removed the complaint, even after antimonials and mercurials had failed. The diet of patients afflicted with this malignant eruption, ought to consist chiefly of milk, carefully avoiding whatever may irritate the system.—Their daily drink should be either whey or butter-milk.

The leprosy is not peculiar to man, but frequently appears among quadrupeds, especially hogs; when it is generally called the Murrain; under which article we shall point out a few of its appropriate remedies.