leprosy (lep'ro-se)

Syn.: lepra, lepra Arabum, elephantiasis Graecorum. A chronic, infectious disease caused by the Bacillus leprae, with symptoms which appear chiefly in the skin or the nervous system, according to whether the organisms find their chief development in one or the other of these ti ues. The symptoms of the disease were fully decribed in the first century of the Christian era by Areteus. The Bacillus leprae was discovered by Hansen in 1871. The disease is divided into tubercular L, which chiefly affects the skin, and anesthetic or maculo-anesthetic I., which chiefly affects the nerves. [Old Fr., lepre, liepre, mod. Fr., lepre, Lat., lepra, from Gr., lepra, scaly disease.] leprous ing from (lep'rus). leprosy. Relating to or suffer- Lieptandra (lep-tan'drah). 1. The genus Veronica. 2. Of and the rootlets U. S. Ph., Culver's root, the rhizome of Veronica virginica. The extract and fluidextract are official in the U. S. Ph. [Gr., leptosdelicate, + aner, a man.] lept and rin (lep-tan'drin). 1. A resinous cathartic substance isolated from Leptandra (Veronica virginica). leptocephali a (lep-to-sef-are-ah). Abnormal smallne of the head. [Gr., leptos, slender, + kephale, head.] jLeptodera (lep-tod'er-ah). A genus of worms of the order Nematoda, and family Anguillulidae, which occasionally infest the human intestine. Jj. pellio. A genus infesting the vagina or intestines of Hungarians, being introduced from the soil. lep to meningitis An inflammation of(lep"to-men-in-ji'tis) a thin or delicate. membrane, especially of the pia of the brain or spinal cord. It may be acute or chronic and is caused by a variety of bacterial agents. [Gr., leptos, delicate, + menigx, a membrane, + it is, inflammation.] lep to meninx (lep"to-men'inx). The arachnoid, or the arachnoid and pia together. [Gr., leptos, delicate, + menigx, membrane.] fungi.