The Leper in England: with some account of English lazar-housesHope, Robert Charles
History
The Leper in England: with some account of English lazar-houses
Hope, Robert Charles
Leprosy -- Great Britain -- History
(i.) "The occult premonitory signs of Leprosy are, a reddish colour of
the face, verging to duskiness; the expiration begins to be changed,
the voice grows hoarse, the hairs become thinned and weaker, and the
perspiration and breath incline to foetidity; the mind is
melancholic with frightful dreams and nightmare; in some cases scabs,
pustules, and eruptions break out over the whole body; disposition of
the body begins to become loathsome, but still, while the form and
figure are not corrupted, the patient is not to be adjudged for
separation; but is to be most strictly watched."
(ii.) "The infallible signs, are, enlargement of the eyebrows, with
loss of their hair; rotundity of the eyes; swelling of the nostrils
externally, and contraction of them within; voice nasal; colour of the
face glossy, verging to a darkish hue; aspect of the face terrible,
and with a fixed look; with acumination or pointing and contraction of
the pulps of the ear. And there are many other signs, as pustules and
excrescences, atrophy of the muscles, and particularly of those
between the thumb and forefinger; insensibility of the extremities;
fissures, and infections of the skin; the blood, when drawn and
washed, containing black, earthy, rough, sandy matter. The above are
those evident and manifest signs, which, when they do appear, the
patient ought to be separated from the people, or, in other words,
secluded in a Lazar House."
(iii.) "The signs of the last stage and breaking-up of the disease,
are, corrosion and falling-in of the cartilage forming the septum of
the nose; fissure and division of the feet and hands; enlargement of
the lips, and a disposition to glandular swelling; dyspnoea and
difficulty of breathing; the voice hoarse and barking; the aspect of
the face frightful, and of a dark colour; the pulse small, almost
imperceptible." Sometimes the limbs drop off, piecemeal or in their
entirety.
All the writers agree in urging most earnestly that no one ought to be
adjudged a Leper, unless there manifestly appears a corruption of the
figure, or, that state indicated as _signa infallibilia_.
LAZAR HOUSES.
The period from its introduction into this country, as far as we know,
to its final or nearly final extinction, may be embraced within the
10th and 16th centuries. It was at the zenith of its height during the
11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. As early as A.D. 948 laws were enacted
with regard to Lepers in Wales by Howel Dda, the Good--the great Welsh
King, who died 948.
The enormous extent to which it prevailed during that period may be
gauged from the fact, that there were above 200 Lazar Houses in
England alone, probably providing accommodation for 4,000 at least,
and this, at a time when the whole population of England was only
between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 of persons; being something like two
in every thousand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account