Wherefore I cannot agree with those interpreters, who imagine that Herod was consumed by, and died of the _phthiriasis_, or _louzy disease_. For σκώληξ is a different creature from φθεὶρ; this corrodes the surface of the skin, that the inner parts of the body. Nor can it admit of doubt, that saint Luke, who was a physician, well understood the meaning of both the words. And yet I know that the disease proceeding ὑπὸ τῶν φθειρων is by some learned men confounded with that caused ὑπὸ τῶν σκωλήκων; of the first of which Pherecides Syrius,[162] and Lucius Sylla,[163] are said to have died. Whereupon Kuhnius says,[164] _I look upon the word_ σκωληκόβρωτος _in saint Luke, and_ φθειρόβρωτος _in Hesychius_,[165] _to be synonimous terms_: and his reason is, because lice are worms. [162] _Ælian. var. hist. Lib. iv. Cap. 28._ [163] _Plutarcho in ejus vita._ [164] _Not. ad Ælianum._ [165] _Lib. de vit. philos._ The END. Transcriber's Note Obvious punctuation errors have been corrected. Due to the age of the text, varied spelling has been preserved. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Medica Sacra, by Richard Mead