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with Mr. Peterfen’s little diiTertation,
will become perfectly acquainted with
the elephantiaiis, its beginning, pro-^
grefs, and greateft height ; and will
readily allow, that the Icelandic name
of liktraa is given it with great propriety,
which fignifies, that thofe who
are infedled with this diieafe in its
higheft degree, refemhle a putrefying
corpfe more than a living man.
The elephantiafis is either inherited
from the father or mother, who are
afmaed with it, or it is not inherited.
In the firft cafe, the difeafe frequently
appears before the child is two years
old, and always before the age o f
twenty-five, fo that fuch perfons feldom
live to fee thirty years. The fooner
the difeafe makes its appearance, the
fooner the patient becomes a prey to
death. But thofe who have not inherited
the elephantiafis, but have
brought it upon themfelves by their
mode of living and other caufes, may
drag on a wretched exiftence during
twelve or fourteen years, and fometimes
longer. The elephantiafis is o f
the fame nature in the South.
Before
feefore this difeafe breaks out bn
iny perfon, his breath is difagreeable
and ftinking for three, and ibmetimes
fix years preceding: he has a great
appetite to eat four, half-rotteq, and
unwholefome food ; is always thirft}q
and drinks very much: ibme are iloth-
ful and ileepy, and when aileep are
with great difficulty awakened ; are
iliort-breathed when the complaint afcends
upwards ; they fpit very much,
and complain of wearinefs in their
knees. They iliiver violently when
they come out of a room into the
bpen air ; the eyes and lips become o f
a brown and blue colour', they have
a weak fmell ; with fome the feeling
is likewife numbed ; others have weak
f ig h t ; and ibme lofe it entirely, when
their foreheads begin to fwell in the
beginning of the difeafe. They have
frequently thin hair, particularly on
the eye-brows ; the beard likewife
grows very thin on both fides o f
the chin, and the ikin becomes gloily,
as i f it had been rubbed over with
greafe,
This
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