Lep"ro*sy (l&ebreve;p"r&osl;*s&ybreve;),
n. [See Leprous.] (Med.) A
cutaneous disease which first appears as blebs or as reddish,
shining, slightly prominent spots, with spreading edges. These are
often followed by an eruption of dark or yellowish prominent nodules,
frequently producing great deformity. In one variety of the disease,
anæsthesia of the skin is a prominent symptom. In addition
there may be wasting of the muscles, falling out of the hair and
nails, and distortion of the hands and feet with destruction of the
bones and joints. It is incurable, and is probably
contagious.
&fist; The disease now called leprosy, also designated as
Lepra or Lepra Arabum, and Elephantiasis
Græcorum, is not the same as the leprosy of the ancients.
The latter was, indeed, a generic name for many varieties of skin
disease (including our modern leprosy, psoriasis, etc.), some of
which, among the Hebrews, rendered a person ceremonially unclean. A
variety of leprosy of the Hebrews (probably identical with modern
leprosy) was characterized by the presence of smooth, shining,
depressed white patches or scales, the hair on which participated in
the whiteness, while the skin and adjacent flesh became insensible.
It was an incurable disease.
