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 principal 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 classes, 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 cum 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."