LEPIDOPTERA 



3384 



LEPROSY 



LEPIDOPTERA, lepi dop'te ra, from two 

 Greek words, lepis, meaning scale, and pteron, 

 meaning wing, is that order of insects which 

 includes the butterflies and the moths. The 

 name has reference to the fact that the wings 

 are covered with tiny scales or flattened hairs. 

 Members of this group pass through a slow 

 series of changes, known as metamorphosis, 

 before they reach their adult form. There are 

 first the eggs, then caterpillars, which grow 

 and shed their skins frequently, then the 

 cocoon, and finally the moth or butterfly. See 

 BUTTERFLY; INSECT; METAMORPHOSIS; MOTH. 



Consult List of North American Lepidoptera 

 and Key to the Literature of This Order of In- 

 sects in United States National Museum Bulle- 

 tin 52 (Washington, D. C.). 



macular, in which the skin shows dark red or 

 black stains; anesthetic, in which there is a 

 loss of sensation in the patches of afflicted 

 tissue; and tubercular, marked by areas of 

 granulated tissue, that is, tissue cpvered with 

 small, red grainlike elevations. Patients are 

 sometimes afflicted with a form of leprosy 

 combining the three varieties; in the two first 

 named the nerves are slowly destroyed. 



Leprosy is spread by contagion and is not 

 hereditary. It probably enters the system 

 through the passages of the nose and throat, 

 and takes from two to seven years to develop. 

 The spots attacked first show small white 

 lumps, which later ulcerate. These ulcerations 

 are usually on the exposed skin of the face and 

 hands, but they sometimes attack other parts 



IN THE LEPER COLONY ON CULION ISLAND 



This enterprise is situated about 200 miles from Manila. At the left are pictured sanitary quar- 

 ters of the victims ; at the right, the lepers' theater and its attractive approach. 



LEP'IDUS, MARCUS AEMILIUS ( ? -13 B. c.), 

 dictator of Rome during Julius Caesar's ab- 

 sence in Spain (49-48 B. c.) , colleague of the 

 latter in the consulate (46 B. c.) , and appointed 

 to the government of Nearer Spain by Caesar 

 in 44 B. c. After the assassination of the great 

 Roman leader, Lepidus supported Mark Antony 

 and became one of the triumvirate with Octa- 

 vius (later the Emperor Augustus) and Antony. 

 His lack of statesmanship, weakness of charac- 

 ter and want of military talents made him 

 inferior in importance to the other two, who 

 gave him Africa as his province. In 36 B. c. 

 he made a desperate attempt to seize Sicily, 

 but his soldiers deserted him and went over 

 to his rival, Octavius. The latter permitted 

 him to retain his wealth, but compelled him 

 to live in retirement. 



LEPROSY, lep'rosi, the most universally 

 dreaded disease. Leprosy affects the skin and 

 has numerous forms, classified in three groups; 



of the body. In deep ulceration the flesh and 

 even the bones are destroyed. 



Lepers always have been shunned. In Bib- 

 lical and medieval times they were forced to 

 dress in an easily-identified costume and carry 

 rattles or clappers to warn others of their ap- 

 proach. Until recently leprosy was supposed 

 to be incurable. An antivenomous serum was 

 successful in a few cases, but the best remedy 

 for leprosy, chaulmooga oil, has been known 

 for years by East Indians. The treatment 

 must be kept up for a period of several years. 

 Formerly the patient was so nauseated by the 

 oil that he usually abandoned its use. This 

 oil, however, has been used successfully in a 

 number of cases by Dr. Victor G. Heiser, head 

 of the United States leper colony on the island 

 of Culion, in the Philippines. He overcomes 

 its nauseating effects by mixing it with cam- 

 phorated oil and resorcin; it is given hypoder- 

 mically. 



