SOME DISEASES MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. 275 



presence of this kind of thing in China and also in Africa, and, 

 for alight one knows, it may be in this country too. I could 

 have wished that Dr. Chaplin had written a little more with 

 regard to this interesting and mysterious subject. It would 

 appear, as far as I know, that it never takes place unless there is, 

 first, a surrender of the will on the part of the human being. 

 He must surrender his will to the devil before anything of this 

 kind ever takes place. 



I am sure our thanks are heartily due to Dr. Chaplin, and 

 . hardly less so to Professor Lionel Beale for the valuable remarks 

 he has made to us. 



Rev. John Tuckwell. — I would just call attention to the fact 

 that with regard to what has been said concerning Bacon's remark, 

 in the case of Gehazi, who is said to have gone out from the 

 presence of Elisha "a leper as white as snow," he was afterwards 

 admitted into society ; so that he was brought into contact with 

 society at the time, and they do not seem to have thought of 

 contagion from him, for he was afterwards relating the wonderful 

 things done by Elisha. So that it hardly seems that Bacon's 

 explanation is worth anything. 



As to demoniacal possession it certainly should not be con- 

 founded with madness or with epilepsy, for in the Gospel of 

 St. Matthew you have, in one verse, the two things used, demoniacal 

 possession and (reXtivuiKo?, the Greek word for lunacy. It is peculiar, 

 too, that in three languages, the Greek, Latin, and our own, we 

 have lunacy connected, in some way or other, with the moon. The 

 Greek word is " moon-struck " ; the Latin word is " moon-struck " ; 

 and we have the term " moon-struck " in our time. 



Leprosy seems to have gone back to an early period. It seems 

 to have produced the growth of long white hairs. So that in the 

 €arly history of our race we seem to have an allusion to some of 

 those very remarkable and intei'esting diseases. 



I think the paper is very suggestive, and a very valuable one, 

 and I am also glad to have heard such remarks as those from 

 Professor Beale. 



