I T C 



inclodies, its religious and fecular dramas, and with the 

 chief pari of its grace and elet;ance. Italy, in modern 

 times, has been to the reft of Europe what ancient Greece 

 was to Rome ; its inhabitants have helped to civilize and 

 polifli their conquer')rs, and to enlij:;hten the minds of thofe 

 whofe fupcrior fercc and prowcis had frequently cnflaved 

 theni. 



ITANBERA, a town of Brazil, in the rrovernment of 

 Minas Geraes ; 36 miles \V. of Villa Rica. ' 



ITANNA, or EsTEW.A, a kingdom of Africa, on the 

 Slave coail, fubjeel to Benin. 



ITAPE, a town of Sontli America, in the province of 

 Paragnay ; <jO miles S E. of AfTuir'ption. 



ITAPUA, a town of South America, in the province 

 of Paraguay, on the Parana; 170 miles S.E. of Annmp- 

 tion. 



IT AT A, a town of South America, in the country of 

 Chili, on a river of the fame name ; 32 miles N.N.E. of La 

 Conception. 



ITATl, a town of South America, in the province of 

 Buenos Ayres, on the Paran i ; 35 miles N.E. of Cor- 

 rientes. 



ITCH, in Meil'idrie, a contagious difeafe of the (Icin, 

 which is characferiz.'d by an eruption of numerous fmall 

 pullules, more efpccially about the lingers, wrifts, and the 

 bending of the joints, accompanied by the moll importunate 

 itching, without fever. 



This difeafe feems to have been included, together with 

 the running, or moill tetter, under the appellation of u!cs- 

 ratiag pfora, {\. -j^-'. iK/.-Ar,:) of the Greeks, and conllitcled 

 one form of the fcnhies of the Latin writers. In the wri- 

 tings of the moderns, it is fometimes denominated ^^;v;, but 

 more frequently _/?<7i/Vj- ; the term ^/o;v/, indeed, when ufed 

 ■by the Greeks without any ejnthet, fignilicd the fcaly tet- 

 ter, which is analogous to 'their /f/n?, "l fee Willanon Cu- 

 taneous Dift-afes, Oi-der ii. Genus 2. ) and not a pullular 

 difeafe. 



Tlie eruption of fcabies begins moll commonly on the 

 limbs, and efjjecially about the wrifts and fingers, in the 

 form of minute pullules or watery pimples, which are ac- 

 companied by a fenfation of violent itching, which is greatly 

 increafed by external warmth, and therefore is particularly 

 troublefome foon after the patient gets into bed. It allumes, 

 however, a conlldei-able variety of forms, in different ni- 

 llances, and even in different ftages, of the complaint, 

 ■which the vulgar have noticed, and dillinguiihed by parti- 

 cular appellations. AVhat they denominate the laiit hch, is 

 often feen early, in the progrel's of the diforder, or in mild 

 cafes ; and coniiftsof a numerous crop of pimply eruption, 

 which fpreads over the whole body, arms, breall, and lower 

 extremities ; but, on the trunk of the body efpccially, the 

 charadteril'ic ichorous pullule commonly appears here and 

 there int<-rmixed with llie papula;, and the linal tendency of 

 the eruption is to the pullular form. In other cafes, lar^e 

 watery veficlec are feen diffufed over the thighs, arms, hands, 

 and region of tlie ilomach ; in which cafe the difeafe is po- 

 pularly termed the loalcry ilcb. And not unfrequently the 

 eruption over the arms, wrii'is, and fingers, confiftsof large, 

 yellow pullules, which become confluent, and form crulls 

 or fcabs as the niattcrdries ; this has been termed the pocky 

 itch, not from its tomiedion with any fyphilitic contagion, 

 as fome have been led to imagine from the term; but from 

 the refemblance of tlie puftules to thofe of the diftinil fmall- 

 pox. Some wi-iters iiave mentioned •.xfcorhiilk itch, and have 

 included the puftular fyphilitic eruptions under the term itch ; 

 butthefe eruptions, as well as the afl'edions of the (kin ori- 

 ginating from -the true fcurvy, differ cflenliany from /cal/us 



I T C 



in their form, and in the abfence of that inccfTant and im- - I 

 portunate itching, which accompanies the latter. The term i 

 Jcorhulic itch has fometimes been applied to the prurigo, if 

 would fcem, when it was accompanied by a particularly irri- 

 table and inflamed ftate of the fliin. 



The pruriginotis eruptions, indeed, which Dr. Willan has 

 defcribed as confilhng of pimples, which do not becom.e 

 puftular in general, or difcharge any fluid, even when the 

 tops are rubbed off, after continuing fome time, are apt to 

 become pullular and contagious ; that is, to degenerate inta, 

 fatbits, if they arc long neglecled, or where cleanlinefs is' 

 not fufliciently attended to. And there is an eruption, 

 which is not very uncommon, partaking, in its appearances, 

 of the charatlcr of prurigo and impetigo conjoined, which is 

 contagious in its double charadler, and exceedingly obfti- 

 nate. In work-houfes, moreover, a virulent fcabies is often 

 feen, which appears to be a mixture of the poifon of porrigo 

 with that of itch, and which afleCis the whole body, wi'th 

 fcabby and itching ulcerations, that are communicated by 

 tiie contagion, under. the fame form. In Ihort, it is ex- 

 tremely difficult to point a certain diagnofis of the Jcalits. 

 from the variety of forms under which a contagious and 

 puftular eruption appears, under different circumftanccs. 

 See PuuRlGO. 



The itch is moft frequently com.municated from one pcrfon 

 to another by contagion, that is, by adtual contaft ; as hy 

 deeping, (haking hands. Sec. with a' perfon affedled, or by 

 uling the clothes, linen, 5:c. which liadbeen previoufly ufed 

 by fueli a pcrfon. But in fome cafes it feems to originate in 

 individuals, who negledt or do not pofiefs the proper means 

 of cleanlinefs, and in others is the refult of the converfion of 

 the papulous difeafes (the lichen and prurigo of Dr. Willan's 

 arrangement) into a puftular difeafe. When the complaint 

 is communicated by contadl with the perfon or clothes of one 

 already infefted, it is doubtlefs commonly conve-^ed by a 

 fort of inoculation of the ichorous or purulent matter, 

 difcharged from the puftules. Some, however, have attri- 

 buted the difeafe itfelf, as well as the ready propagation of 

 it, to the exillence of certain minute infects, wluch breed in 

 the furrows of the cuticle, and which are conveyed from 

 one perfon to another by fuch intercourfe as we have jull 

 mentioned. Bonomo, an Italian phyfician, was one of the 

 llrll to defcribe this infecl, and liis account was made known 

 in England by Dr. M'-ad. (See Philof. Tranf. vol. xxiii. ) 

 It has been fuice called the acarus fcabici, and has been par- 

 ticularly defcribed and figured by Degeer (Hift. des In- 

 fectes), and others. Linnsus confidered it tlie fame with 

 the acarus or mile, which breeds in flour ; but Degeer has 

 (hewn tliis to be a miilake. Tliefe infefts, which we confefs 

 we have never been able to detect in any cafe of fcabies, are 

 faid to be found, not in the large puftules, but in the recent 

 watery puftule,', or itill more com.monly in the furrows of 

 the cuticle, near them, on the hands and fingers. 



Cure. — A great variety of remedies have been employed 

 at different times fen- the cure of this filthy complaint ; and 

 in general, indeed, it is not very difficult of cure, although 

 the remedy is alfo filthy like the difeafe. Sulphur, both 

 taken internally, in combination with fome neutral or alka- 

 line fait, and applied externally over the parts afFedfed, iu 

 the form of an ointment, is found to be the n-.oft Cfrtaiii and 

 efficacious remedy. The white hellebore, applied either in 

 an ointment, or in a ftrong decodiion as a lotion, has confi- 

 dcrable influence over the difeafe ; and fome of the prepara- 

 tions of mercury, fiuh as the white precipitate, the oxy- 

 niuriate, or corrofivc Inblimatc, &c. as well as the muriate 

 of ammonia, potafti iu a ftate of a deliquefcence, &c. are 

 alfo occafionally reforted to, in v.-u-ious combinations, with 



fuccefs. 



