[51] _Prorrhetic. Lib. ii. sub finem._ [52] Ἡ κατὰ Φοινἱκην, κι κατὰ τὰ ἄλλα ἀνατολικὰ μἑρη πλεονὰζȣσα. [53] _Pag. 15._ [54] _De simpl. medicam. facult. Lib. xi._ [55] _De medicina, Lib. v. Cap. xxviii. §. 19._ [56] _Lib. iii. Cap. xxv._ [57] _Canon, Lib. iv. Fen. 3. Tract. 3. Cap. i._ Now with regard to the infection of the cloaths, it has been found by most certain experiments, not only in the plague, and some other malignant eruptive fevers, as the small pox and measles, but even in the common itch; that the infection, once received into all sorts of furs or skins, woollen, linnen, and silk, remains a long time in them, and thence passes into human bodies. Wherefore it is easy to conceive, that the leprous miasmata might pass from such materials into the bodies of those, who either wore or handled them, and, like seeds sown, produce the disease peculiar to them. For it is well known, that the surface of the body, let it appear ever so soft and smooth, is not only full of pores, but also of little furrows, and therefore is a proper nest for receiving and cherishing the minute, but very active, particles exhaling from infected bodies. But I have treated this subject in a more extensive manner in my _Discourse on the Plague_.[58] And these seeds of contagion are soon mixed with an acrid and salt humor, derived from the blood; which as it naturally ought, partly to have turned into nutriment, and partly to have perspired through the skin, it now lodges, and corrodes the little scales of the cuticle; and these becoming dry and white, sometimes even as white as snow, are separated from the skin, and fall off like bran. Now, altho’ this disease is very uncommon in our colder climate; yet I have seen one remarkable case of it, in a countryman, whose whole body was so miserably seized by it, that his skin was shining as if covered with snow: and as the furfuraceous scales were daily rubbed off, the flesh appeared quick or raw underneath. This wretch had constantly lived in a swampy place, and was obliged to support himself with bad diet and foul water. [58] _Chap. i._