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Syphilis

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PhillipsEL_1910redux.pdf (113.4Mb)
Date
1910
Author
Phillips, Edward Lawrence
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Abstract
 
 
It is scarcely possible to find a disease which equals syphilis in the number and variety of its SYNONYMS. It was quite an unknown affection when it first made its appearance in Europe, and a satisfactory designation had to be found for it. For long it was known udder the somewhat vague designation of "Lues Venerea"; and it was spoken of by the laity as the "Pox" and the "Bad Disorder." The terns " Morbus Gallicus" had a considerable and sustained vogue; and a number of local affections, having no relation whatever to syphilis, were for a considerable time confounded ith it. The French call it "Virole," the Germans "Lustseicche" and "Krankheit der Fr.anzossen," the Spanish "Sifilis," the Italians " Sifilide," and the Swedish "Radezyge." Numerous synonyms came to be invonted through the desire of certain nations to take a nosological revenge upon others. Thus, the people of Naples called it the "French Disease" when it first appeared in their beloved city at the time when the French troops were laying siege thereto. The French, on the other hand, retorted by designating syphilis as the "Disease of Naples," though the Germans and English rather detracted from the popularity of the term by speaking of the affection as "French Pox." The same idea a.nnears in such other iap i tions á.s the "Turkish Disease," the "Disease of Christians," the "Polish Disease," the "German Disease," the "Portuguese Disease," and the "Spanish Disease." Such tokens of racial animosity are now, however, mere literary curiosities and purely of historical interest. The Germans, Ttalians and Spaniards were the vreatest advOoates of the term " Morbus Gallicus," which was afterwards shortened to "Morbus" by the laity. " Morbus enereus" is a term concerning which there has been ouch disputation amongst philologists. From the etiological standpoint syphilis and morbus venereus are not synonymous terms; the former may be a morbus venereus, as it is in the vast majority of instances; but, nevertheless, it is, as we shall see, not ecessarily so. It is interesting, though not strange, o note that the superstitions of the period found xpression in some of the names invented for this disase, the clients of various Saints attributing its cure to their spiritual Patron. Thus we have introduced into the nomenclature of syphilis such names as "St. Job" and "St. Main," which, however, by no means exhaust the list. Such popular procedure was deprecated by the physicians of the period who , with a view of demonstrating their neutrality towards popular superstitions and racial prejudices, gave syphilis names expressive of their respective nosological interpretations. From its supposed resemblance to Asiatic lepra some of them called it "Elephantiasis," and others christened it "Sahafati" from its alleged similZar.ity to a. peculiar cutaneous lesion prevalent amongst the people of Arabia, This was a period of astrological cult, and its influence became apparent in the nomenclature of the disease. Curiosity regarding Mars and Saturn was apparently just as keen then as now, perhaps more so; and this found expression.. in the name "Patursa Saturnine Disease" which the affection received in view of its supposed causation thereby. By many syphilis was at this time confounded with smallpox on its first appearance amongst them; in order to distinguish the two , the French called it the "Great Pox," and the custom was also observed for A. timee by the Germans, the Fleriish, and the Picardy people. As early as the end of the fifteenth century the French called the disease "Ls Grosse Verole ," the term being first used in Parisian Parliamentary enactment of 1496. We shall presently see that the term "Syphilis" was in all probability coined with etymological reference to the most frequent mode of origin of the disease, and used for the first time, incorporated in a myth, by the Veronese Physician Hieronymus Frascatorius (Syphilis sine I')rbus Gallicus, Lib.iii,,1521), who related, in a poem concerning the disease, that a herdsman of King Alkithous, Syphilis by name, was afflicted by it from Apollo as his punishment for paying divine honour to the Zing instead of to the god. About this time the Spaniards called it "bubas" ( -pox); the Germans spoke of it as "purpeln," "Mal Franzos ," and "!elsche Ro:sen;" and other contemporary writers designated syphilis as "Montagra" or. "MeÌ'itulagta," "Patursae," and ".z tudendagra," etc. The name "Maladie V6nèrienne" was, in 1556, given to the affection by a medical practitioner in Rouen, who noticed that sexual intercourse was the most common method of contracting the malady. This had a considerable vogue, but was ultimately replaced by the Latin equivalent "Lues Venerea." The name "Sibbens" or "Sewens" was given i.o the aisot.:e wnen prevalent in the pest of Scotland, especially in the counties of Ayr, Dumfries, Wigton, etc.; it was first observed there towards the end of the seventeenth century t i694) , at which period it was said to have been imported by the soldiers of Oliver Cromwell. The identity of the affection with syphilis has never been seriously called in aueetion. in Scotland the name "Grangfore," - a corruption or the bench "a la. grande gorre ," the local aesazgnat1on of the affection in Rouen, - was also much used by certain classes.
 
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1842/33527
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