262 NATURAL HISTORY of N RWAY. 



Leprofy. is prefcribcd tfiem fo punctually as is required *. What Mr. Luke 

 Debes obferves in his defcription of Faroe, p. 283, ought to have 

 a place here y concerning the northern-leprofy, which in the dio- 

 cefe of Bergen, is found to be of the fame kind and quality as 

 that on the oppofite coaft of Faroe. His defcription of this di- 

 ftemper is as follows. " The phyficians fay there are three forts 

 of leprofies ; namely, Tyria fo called from the ferpent Tyro. The 

 ikin of the perfon infected with this kind of leprofy is foft, and 

 full of fpots like warts, and fometimes peels off in fcales. 



The fecond fort is called Alopecia, from the hair turning foxy, 

 and then falling off. Perfons afflicted with this are red-faced, 

 and med their beards and eye-brows. 



The third fort is called Elephantia ; the fldn of a perfon in- 

 fected with this fort refembles that of an elephant ; and the face, 

 with every part of the body, is full of tubercles. 



The leprofy that this country is moft fubject to is the elephan- 

 tia. For the leprous perfons here are full of livid tubercles, which 

 fometimes break out into boils, and disfigures their faces ex- 

 tremely. They are hoarfe, or fpeak through the nofe y but the 

 diftemper is more virulent at fpring and fall, and carries off a 

 great many. What chiefly occaiions this difeafe is the quality of 

 the air, and the diet of the inhabitants ; for, as I have intimated 

 before, the cold is not immoderate here, but we have a very 

 damp air. This,, in general, produces the fcurvy, which is a 

 fpecies of leprofy, efpecially in thofe who do not ufe much exer- 

 cife. Beiides the air, ' their food, efpecially of the poorer fort, 

 which confifts of meat and fiiri half rotten, in the winter, and 

 frefh fim without any fait, and milk, in the fummer, contri- 



* In the north of Holland the damp air, . and their daily-nouriihment, which is. 

 chiefly fifh, have the fame effect, and I am informed that the fame fort of Scabies- 

 Scorbutica likewife appears amongft the common people there, which feems to be 

 confirmed by the following teftimony : " We are now in North-Holland, and I 

 have never feen amongft fo few people, fo many infecl:ed with the leprofy as here. 

 They fay the reafon is becaufe they eat fo much fifh". James Howell's Familiar 

 Letters, Part I. Book if. N° xiii. p. 151, Dr. Ruffel publilhed a piece in the Lon- 

 don-Magazine of June 1752, p. 278, wherein he fays, " That common fea-water^ 

 applied both internally and externally, will cure not only the fcurvy, but the above- 

 mentioned leprofy, if it has not talc'en too deep root, and the glands are ftill pre- 

 ferred." And in the fame place he adds, " That there is a kind of fea-weed, called 

 Quercus-Manna (of which there is enough here) which is good for the fcurvy in 

 the gums, if rubbed with it." If it v be fo, then God's providence fhews itfelf re- 

 markably by diftributing fuch univerfal remedies, according to the wants of each, 

 nation. Concerning the Norwegian fea-weeds, I have given all the account I can, 

 in the firft part of this work. 



butes, 



