NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 219 



LETTER XXXVII. 



SELBORNE, Jan. 8tti, 1778. 



DEAR SIR, There was in this village several years ago a miserable 

 pauper, who from his birth was afflicted with a leprosy, as far 

 as we are aware of a singular kind, since it affected only the 

 palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. This scaly eruption 

 usually broke out twice in the year, at the spring and fall ; and, 

 by peeling away, left the skin so thin and tender that neither his 

 hands nor feet were able to perform their functions ; so that the 

 poor object was half his time on crutches, incapable of employ, 

 and languishing in a tiresome state of indolence and inactivity. 

 His habit was lean, lank and cadaverous. In this sad plight he 

 dragged on a miserable existence, a burden to himself and his 

 parish, which was obliged to support him till he was relieved by 

 death at more than thirty years of age. 



The good women, who love to account for every defect in 

 children by the doctrine of longing, said that his mother felt a 

 violent propensity for oysters, which she was unable to gratify; 

 and that the black rough scurf on his hands and feet were the 

 shells of that fish. We knew his parents, neither of which were 

 lepers j his father in particular lived to be far advanced in years. 



In all ages the leprosy has made dreadful havoc among man- 

 kind. The Israelites seem to have been greatly afflicted with it 

 from the most remote times, as appears from the peculiar and 

 repeated injunctions given them in the Levitical law.* Nor was 

 the rancour of this foul disorder much abated in the last period of 

 their commonwealth, as may be seen in many passages of the 

 New Testament. 



Some centuries ago this horrible distemper prevailed all Europe 

 over : and our forefathers were by no means exempt, as appears 

 by the large provision made for objects labouring under this 

 calamity. There was an hospital for female lepers in the diocese 

 of Lincoln; a noble one near Durham; three in London and 

 * See Lev. xiii., xiv. 



