LEPROSY

is a chronic disease caused by a bacillus or =. and characterised by tho presence of nodular swellings n the skin and mucous membranes, or in the nerves. The disease is at present chiefly one of the hot countries, though in the Middle Ages it prevailed in Europe, including England, as many of our churches testify; for they present the “squint holes” through which lepers were permitted to see the ma without being permitted to enter the church. At the present day leprosy is rare in Europe, except in Norway and some parts of Ru ia. That the disease dates from remote antiquity is clear from the Old Testament. The cause is a ya bacillua conveyed from the disc a red to the healthy by contuct. [t is not highly contagious; thus Profe or Osler says, “ Not one of the Sisters of Gharity who have for moro than forty years so faithfully [s. 382]