262 NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 



Leprofy. is prefcribed them fo punctually as is required *. What Mr. Luke 

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

 a place here, 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- 

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

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

 fkin of the perfon infected with this kind of leprofy is fbft, 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 affli&ed with this are red-faced, 

 and fhed their beards and eye-brows. 



The third fort is called Elephantia ; the fkin 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 fubjecl 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 ; but the 

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

 great many. What chiefly occafions 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, especially in thofe who do not ufe much exer- 

 cife. Befides the air, their food, efpecially of the poorer fort, 

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

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



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

 chiefly fifh, have the fame efFecl, 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 infected with the leprofy as here. 

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

 Letters, Part I. Book 11. N° xiii. p. 151, Dr. RufTel publifhed 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 taken too deep root, and the glands are Ail] pre- 

 served." 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 be fo, then God's providence fhews itfelf re- 

 markably by diftributing fuch univerfal remedies, according to...t.he wants of each 

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

 in the firft part of this work. JL 



butes, 



