That no argument in support of contagion can be drawn simply from the sentence of expulsion from the camp, is evident from Numbers v., 2-4; for Lepers, and non-Lepers, are equally excluded on the ground of "uncleanness." The laws of seclusion applied as rigorously to the uncleanness induced by _touching_ a leper, or even a dead body, as well as in other cases, where no question of contagion could exist. It appears more than probable that the "cleansing" was merely a ceremonial, ordained for those attacked by the disease at a certain stage, implying some deeper meaning, than I for one, am able to discern. I therefore leave it to the theologian to whom it appertains, rather than to a humble and enquiring layman as myself. That the descriptions of the various forms of skin disease were intended, not to denote differences in their nature or pathology, but to enable the priests to discriminate between the "clean" and "unclean" forms, is manifest. They were intended purely for practical use. The first allusion--the only one in the Bible--we have to a Lazar, or Leper house, occurs in 2 Kings, xv., 5, "And the Lord smote the King so that he was a Leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a _'several' house_." THE LEPROSY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. The Leprosy of the Middle Ages known as _Elephantiasis Graecorum_, _Lepra Arabum_, and _Lepra tuberculosis_, is not yet extinct. It is very curious that whilst _Lepra Arabum_ is the same as _Elephantiasis Graecorum_ or true Leprosy, the _Elephantiasis Arabum_ is a totally distinct disease. The former is the most loathsome and revolting of the many awful and terrible scourges, with which the Almighty, in his wisdom, has seen fit, from time to time, to visit mankind. It is, I believe, a singular fact, that the Jews, "the chosen people of God," have a special immunity from the disease, being less predisposed than other races. Dr. V. Carter says that during a period of seventeen years, out of a very large number of cases in Bombay, he had seen only four cases, and but one death among Jews, that is of _Elephantiasis Graecorum_. Belcher on "Our Lord's Miracles," says that in Tangiers at the present day, the two diseases are found, the _Lepra Hebraeorum_ prevailing chiefly among the Jewish residents, and presenting exactly the symptoms as described in Leviticus. On the other hand, in Syria, _Elephantiasis Graecorum_ is unknown among the Jews.