YAW 



from the Woft Indies before he felt any indifpofition. 

 See Memoirs of the Med. Soc. of London. 



With rcfpcft to the treatment of yaws, nothing very 

 fatisfaaory is to be colleded from the writings of the prac- 

 titioners to whom we are indebted for the hiftory of the 

 difeafe. " The native Africans," according to Dr. Winter- 

 bottom, "never attempt to cure it until it has nearly 

 reached its height, when the fungi have acquired their fuU 

 fize, and no more pullules appear." And the pradtitioners 

 in the Weft. Indies foon learned by experience, that aftive 

 evacuations retard the natural progrefs of the difeafe ; and 

 that mercurials, although they fufpcnded it, and cleared the 

 Ikin of the eruption, yet left the patient ftill fufceptible of, 

 or rather dill impregnated with, the virus, which fpeedily 

 evinced its prefence by a re-appearance of the fymptoms 

 more fevere and tedious than before. In truth, the difeafe, 

 it would feem, like the pullular and exanthematous fevers 

 of our own climate, will only leave the conftitution after it 

 has completed the various ftages of its courfe, and removed 

 the fufceplibility of the individual to future infeftion ; and 

 no medicine yet difcovered has had any influence in fuper- 

 fcding this aftion, or in accelerating its progrefs. Unlefs, 

 therefore, any urgent fymptoms fhould require alleviation, 

 (which feldom, if ever, happens) it is advifeable to difpenfe 

 with the admiiiiftratiou of medicine, and to be content with 

 reftrifting the patient to a moderate and temperate regimen, 

 during the firll ftage of the malady. When the eruptions 

 begin to dry, or as foon as they ceafe to multiply and en- 

 large, the difeafe appears to require the fame management as 

 other flow and fuperficial ulcerations, accompanied with a 

 cacheftic ft^ate of the fyilem ; viz. a light but nutritious 

 diet, a dry and vvholefome air, warm clothing, moderate 

 exercife, and a courfe of tonic medicine, efpecially of farfa- 

 parilla, or cinchona, with the mineral acids, or with antimo- 

 nials and fmall dofes of mercury, according to the circum- 

 ftances of the individual habit. The effefts of mercury, 

 however, exhibited fo as to excite falivation, as the early 

 praftitioners recommend, feem to be of a very queflionable 

 nature, efpecially when it is unaccompanied by the vegetable 

 decoftions ; and it is certain that patients have, in fome 

 cafes, foon recovered under the ufe of the latter, when the 

 mercurials were omitted. The mercurial treatment, indeed, 

 is often followed by a train of haraffing fymptoms, called 

 by the negroes the tone-ache. " The unhappy fufferer is 

 tormented with deepfeated pains in the bones, efpecially 

 round the joints, which are occafionally aggravated to a 

 violent degree : the periofteura becomes thickened, inflamed, 

 and painful, and nodes are formed on the bones. When 

 thefe fymptoms have continued for fome time, the bones 

 are aflefted with caries, and even become foft and lofe their 

 form." The native Africans employ decodtions of the 

 bark of two or three trees, which are generally purgative, as 

 well as tonic, and hkewife wafli the fores with them, after 

 carefully removing the crufts. 



The majler-yaiu fometimes remains large and trouble- 

 fome after the reft, of the eruption has altogether difap- 

 peared. It requires to be treated with gentle efcharotics, 

 and foon aflumes a healing appearance under thefe appUca- 

 tions. Stronger cauftics are requiflte after the cure of the 

 crab-yatvs, or tedious excrefcences, which occur on the foles 

 of the feet. 



We may add, that the anonymous writer in the Edinb. 

 Med. Efl"ays, and after him Dr. Hillary and others, have 

 deemed the yaws to be the Hebrew leprofy, defcribed by 

 Mofes. (Leviticus, chap, xiii.) In fome refpedts, and ef- 

 pecially in the appearance of what is called " raw flefti" in 

 the leprous fpots, together v/kh luhitene/s of the hair, the de- 



Y A Z 



fcription of the leprofy of the Jews is applicable lo the 

 yaws. But the leprofy is defcribed by the great legidator 

 as beginning in feveral ways, or appearing under fevernl 

 varieties of form, in only one of which this rifing of " raw 

 flefli" is mentioned ; and the two circumftances, which all 

 thefe varieties exhibited in common, were a deprefTion of 

 the flvin and whitenefs of the hair. Now this change in the 

 colour of the hair is common to the yaws and to the leuce ; 

 and it is conjoined in the latter with cutaneous depreflion. 

 It feems pretty obvious indeed, that the term leprofy was 

 ufed in the Scriptures to denote feveral difeafes of the flcin, 

 againft which the law of exclufion was enforced, and others 

 to which it did not apply. An inftance of the latter occurs 

 in Gehazi, whom we find ftill in the employment of Eliftia, 

 and even converfing with the king, after the leprofy had 

 been inflifted upon him, " and his feed for ever." ( 2 Kings, 

 chap. V. vi. and viii. v. 4.) See Dr. Bateman's Praftical 

 Synopfis of Cutan. Difeafes ; and the Works above quoted. 



YAXARTES, or Yaksartes, the Syr-Dana, in 

 Geography, a river of Ruflia, that falls into the Aral. 



YAXLEY, a fmall market-town in the hundred of 

 Norman-Crofs, and county of Huntingdon, England, is 

 fituated 2 miles N.E. from Stilton, and 73 miles N. by W. 

 from London. It has of late increafed in importance from 

 its contiguity to the barracks at Norman-Crofs. The 

 market was for a long time difcontinucd, but has been re- 

 cently revived, and is now held on Tuefdays. It was ori- 

 ginally granted to the abbots of Thorney, one of whom, 

 named De Yalkefley, who died in 1294, was native of this 

 town. Here is alfo an annual fair. The church is a hand- 

 fome fabric, and particularly remarkable for its lofty and 

 well-proportioned fpire, which is feen at a confiderable dif- 

 tance on all fides. The population of the parifli, in the 

 enumeration of the year 1811, was returned at 1391, oc- 

 cupying 171 houfes. 



YAYACATLAN, a town of Mexico, in the province 

 of Tlafcala ; 10 miles E.S.E. of Puebla de los Angelos. 



YAYAUHQUITOTOTL, in Ornithology, the name 

 of an Indian bird defcribed by Nieremberg, remarkable for 

 having two feathers of its tail much longer than the reft, 

 and naked for a great way, but tlie end ornamented with 

 black and blue hairs. The bird is of the fize of the 

 ftarling, and is beautifully variegated with green, blue, 

 yellow, and grey. 



Mr. Ray is of opinion, that this is the bird defcribed by 

 Marcgrave under the name guiaira-guainambi. 



YAYNANGHEOUM, or Earth Oil Creek, in 

 Geography, a town of Burmah, on the Irawaddy, which 

 receives its name from fome wells of petroleum, in its neigh- 

 bourhood. It is chiefly inhabited by potters ; 15 miles S. 

 of Pegongmew. 



YAYYOS, or Yanvos, a town of Peru, and capital of 

 a jurifdiftion, in the archbifhopric of Lima, which begins 

 about 48 miles fouth-eaft from Lima, and extends about 75 

 miles in length along the Andes. It abounds in fruit, 

 maize, wheat, barley, &c. and the paftures feed a great 

 number of cattle for the markets of Lima ; 80 miles S.S.E. 

 of Lima. 



YAZAMATES, a people who inhabited Kuban, after 

 the Sarmates were for the raoft part given to Europe, five 

 years before Alexander. 



YAZOO, a river of the ftate of Georgia, which runs 

 into the Miffiffippi, N. lat. 32° 38'. W. long. 91° 10'. 



Yazoo, Little, a river of Weft Florida, which runs into 

 the Miffiffippi, N. lat. 32° 13'. W. long. 91° 10'. 



YAZVA, 



