L U E 



L U E 



Leaves alternate, lanceolate. Flowers axillary, folitary, 

 nearly fefTile. Stem round, dill'ufe. — A native of Soutli 

 Carolina. — Lamarck, obferves that this is very nearly albed 

 to the lall fpecies in the iorm and arrangement of its leaves. 

 The whole plant however is hairy. Stem woody, cylindri- 

 cal, branched. Leaves alternate, oblong-lanceolate, entire. 

 Flowers folitary, axillary, on fiich fliort ilalks as to be 

 nearly feffile, furnifhed at their bafe with two oppoiite, very 

 long brafleas. Fniil lefs angulated than in the other 

 fpecies. 



3. L.ji/y^jEO/Wt'.f. Willd. B. 3. Lamarck Dift. V. 3. 614 — 

 Leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate. Flowers axillary, foli- 

 tary. Germen very long. — A native of niarlhy ground in 

 the I fie of France. — This is faid particularly to rcfcmble 

 Ji/fficfti in its habit, whence the fpccitic name. — Stem about 

 a tout and half high, ftirubby, branched. Leaves alternate, 

 fcattered, pointed, entire. Flowers folitary. Petals yel- 

 low, the lengtli of the calyx. 



4. L. oppofitifoHa. Linn. Syft. Veg. ed. 14. 161. Willd. 

 r.4. (L. perennis ; Linn. Sp. PI. 173 ) — Lower leaves op- 

 pofite, lanceolate. Stem ditFufe. — A native of the Eail 

 Indies. — Stems procumbent, fix or eight inches long. 

 Branches nearly all radical. Leaves fmooth, entire, llriated, 

 three or four pair of the lower ones only oppofite, the rell 

 alternate. Flowers yellow. Petals (horter than the calyx. 



5. L. erigata. Linn. Syll. Veg. ed. 14. 161. Mant. 40. 

 Willd. n. 5. (L.triflora; LamarckDift. v. 3. 615.) — Leaves 

 oppofite, lanceolate. Stem ereft. — A native of the Fall 

 Indies.— /J so/ annual. Stem a foot high, herbaceou.";. Leaves 

 on footftalks, quite entire, fmooth. Flowers fo fmall as 

 to be fcarcely villble. 



L. rc/if/w, Swart z, Ind. Occ. v. i. 273, proves, by a 

 fpecimen from himfelf, to be Ifnardia pahtllris of Linuteus, 

 as 'Willdenow mentions. , 



Michaux, in his Fl. Boreal Amer. v. i. 87, defines nine 

 fpecies as natives of North America, chiefly Carolina, of 

 none of which we have any precife information. They are 

 called n'ltula, pednncuhfa, microcarpa, angiiJlifoUa-, (which he 

 fuppofes to be ramuftjpind of Waller,) juffino'ides, (taken for 

 ^i'r.'/rrfnj of Walter, ) macrocarpa, (which is the alternlfolia 

 of Linnaeus,) v'lrgata, mollis, and nipitata. The lall is faid 

 to be fuffrit'ieofn of Walter. 



LUDWIGSBURG, in Geography, a town of Anterior 

 Pomerania, on the coall of the Baltic ; five miles E.N.E. 

 of Griefswalde. 



LUDWIGSTAT, a town of the principality of Culm- 

 bach ; 13 miles S. of Saalfeld. 



LUDWIGSTEIN, a town of the principahty of Heflc 

 Rhinfels ; 14 miles E. of Caifel. 



LUDWIGSTHAL, a town of Wurtemberg, famous 

 for its iron forges ; about one mile from Dutllingen. 



LUDWIGWALL, a town of Prufiia, in Natangen ; 

 four miles S. of Konigfberg. 



LUC, St., the chief town of the captainfhip of Petagues, 

 in the north divifion of Brafil. 



LUES, in a general fenfe, is ufed for a difeafe of any 

 kind. 



LuE.s, in a more particular fenfe, is reftrained to conta- 

 gious and peftilential dileafes. 



Lues Venerea, the venereal difeafe ; called alfo morbus 

 galUcus, fyphilis, morbus tieapolitanus, morbus eiphrojijius, is'c. 

 In French, la maladie vener'ienne, or la •ueralc, ox graruk verole ; 

 in German, lii/lf-euche franzofen. 



The venereal dillemper arifes from a peculiar and fpecific 

 morbid animal poifon, which, when applied to the human 

 body, is capable of producing both local and conflitutional 

 f fTetts, fuch as primary fores or, chancres, buboes, fpots on 



the furface of the body, nodes, ulcerations of the throat, 

 pains in the bimes, iecondary ulcers, &c. Excepting 

 chancres, none of thclc complaints can occur, unlefs fome of 

 the fyphilitic virus has been taken up, and conveyed inta 

 the conlHtution by the abforbents proceeding from the pri- 

 mary fore, or furface originally infefted. The venereal 

 poifon aficcts the human fpecies alone, and has not the pro- 

 perty of iir parting the difeafe to any other animals. When 

 applied to the human body, " it has the power of propa- 

 gating or multiplying itfelf;" that is to fay, it gives rife 

 to a fore, from vvliich is fecretcd matter containing a virus 

 of the fame fpecific nature. Of its appearance in an unmixed 

 (late wc really know nothing ; for we never fee the poi- 

 fon in any other form than that in which it is blended 

 with fluid matter. Its general properties are equally un- 

 known ; fo that, if we put out of confideration its peculiar 

 and remarkable effects on the human body, our ignorance of 

 its nature is complete. It is not contagious through the 

 medium of effluvia, or any volatile invifible matter in 

 ihe air, the infettion never being communicated, except by 

 aftual contaft. The vlru . mull be applied to a part of the 

 body ; the ufual local effect is 3 particular fore, called a 

 chancre ; and fome of the poifonous matter at length being 

 imbibed by the abforbents, buboes, eruptions, &c. follow. 

 Many cafes fcem even to prove that the poifon may be 

 abforbed from the (Icin, and buboes and conilitutional fymp- 

 toms take place, without the occurrence of any primary fore 

 at all in the part to which the infectious matter was firit 

 applied. 



Before entering into a more detailed account of a dillem- 

 per which, as being a kind of fcourge to illicit pleafure, and 

 a curb to the moil impetuous of paflions, has made the gene- 

 rality of mankind very feelingly interellcd in the fubjeft, 

 we (hall folicit the reader's attention to a point that is in 

 tlie highell degree curious, and has afforded matter for nume- 

 rous difputations. " 



Of the frjl Origin of the Venereal Difeafe. — Several 

 writers have endeavoured to prove the great antiquity of 

 this dillemper. The principal of thefe are, Mr. William 

 Becket, whofe papers are contained in the 30th and 3 ill 

 vols, of the Philofophical Tranfaftions ; Dr. Charles 

 Patin, and Dr. Sanchez, authors of differtations on the 

 origin of the difeafe. The opinion has even been main- 

 tained, that the venereal malady has exifted from time imme- 

 morial, and paffages in fupport of this fentiment are referred 

 to in Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna, Celfus, and likewife 

 the holy fcriptures. " The Lord ftiall fmite thee in the 

 knees, and in the legs, with a fore botch, that cannot be 

 healed, from the fole of thy foot unto the top of thy head." 

 ■ (Deuteronomy, chap.xxviii. ver. 35.) This, and many other 

 ancient quotations, however, cannot be received as proofs, 

 that fyphilis was the affliction alluded to, becaufe the leprofy, 

 elephantiafis, and feveriil other dileafes, attended with ulcers, 

 or eruptions, might be lignificd, as far as a juJgipent can be 

 formed, from the words atUially employed. (See Lombard 

 fur la Mai. Vcnerienne, torn. i. p. 39.) That the Greeks 

 and Romans were at all acquainted with the venereal difeafe 

 feems extremely improbable, and is an affertion quite un- 

 ellablilhed. As Dr. Adams has well obferved, the ancient 

 phyfician.'s, being ignorant of the medical povvers of mer- 

 cury, mufl have been infinitely more familiar with every 

 form of the difeafe than ourfelves. Yet, till near the clofe 

 of the I jth century, we have no defcription of local ap- 

 pearances that can be mill^aken for venereal ; and during 

 tlie following century, the induftrious All rue enumerates 

 more than one hundred writers on the inbjedl. If other 

 proofs are required, let us mark the difference between the 



licentioi^ 



