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VON TROIL’S LETTERS ON ICELAND. 717
on both fides of the chin, and the fkin becomes gloffy, as if it had been rubbed over
with greafe,
This difeafe is not found to be particularly infectious in Iceland: as a hufband af-
flicted with it does not infect his wife, nor a difeafed wife her hufband. ‘The children
may likewife be brought up without danger in the houfe of their difeafed parents. But
it has been found by experience, that when one of the parents is infected with it, fome
one or other of the children always catch it. It is the fame thing in Madeira, as Dr.
Heberden obferves. Dr. Johannes informs us that at Martigues in Provence, when
one of the parents has the difeafe, one of the children or grand children, or a defcend-
ant in the third degree, is certainly infected with it; but in the fourth degree it again
difappears, and only fhews itfelf in a bad breath, hollow teeth, {welled throat, and adarker
colour than ufual.
The more ancient writers who have treated of this difeafe, frequently relate, that
people were even afraid of being infetted by converfing with thofe who were troubled
with it. ‘The-difeafe mu(t therefore either have been more violent in the beginning, and
in the fouthern countries, as the venereal difeafes were formerly in the beginning of the
infection; or the difeafe having but lately made its appearance, caufed more appre-
henfions. It is, however, always advifeable to be cautious in converfing with fuch pa-
tients, and neither to wear their fhoes or cloaths, when they have been rendered wet
with fweating. When the difeafe is arrived at fo high a pitch that the matter which
flows from the fkin is corrofive, and eats into. the flefh, it can no longer be denied,
but that it then becomes infectious, and even dangerous to converfe too near with the
patient.
As the elephantiafis, when it has attained its greateft height, is incurable, according
to the teftimony of ancient and modern phyficians ; it is fo much the more neceflary to
notice the beginning of the difeafe, and the time preceding it, in order. to prevent the
danger..
x patient who: finds himfelf in thefe circumftances, or lives in a place where the:
difeafe is rife, or has any other caufe to believe that he has the leaft vettige of it exifting
in his body, either by inheritance, or through his own fault, fhould, both in his diet and:
in his whole manner of life, avoid whatever is likely to contribute to it, or render his
body more liable to receive the infection, with the utmoft caution. He mutt keep him-
felf extremely clean ; immediately put on dry cloaths, whenever thofe on his back be-
come wet ; eat no other food but what is eafily digefted, and abftain from all oily ran-
cid whale’s flefh, and the like. He muft eat no half-rotten fifh; nor their inteftines
and livers, efpecially if they are in a putrid ftate: on the contrary, he mutt confine
himfelf to bread, roots, green herbs, cabbages, turnips, and falad of gentiana, cam-
peftris, forrel (rumex acetofa, L.) rumex crifpus, &c. &c. He mutt eat foups, boiled
frefh meat, with {curvy-grafs, fedum acre, and the like. He mult make ufe of baths
of the decoction of juniper, dry baths of juniper, &c. &c. In the fame manner anti-
monial remedies would be very ufeful; and even Swieten’s mineral mixtures, pills of
an extract of hemlock (pilulae alterantes Plumiris), and ledum palultre. [have like-
-wife obferved with pleafure, that a girl in the parifh of Wefter Hannings was cured of a
commencing elephantiafis in the year 1774, by making ufe, during a long time, of
Huxham’s antimonial eflence, with a decoétion of antifcorbutic herbs.
But every one will eafily apprehend, that poor wretched people, who are naturally
moft expofed to thefe and the like difeafes, are likewife entirely incapable of averting
them by obferving a proper diet and manner of life, which are, however, almolt the
only remedies. SBefides, thefe kind of people are generally carelefs of any illnefs fo
, long
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