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LEPIDUS
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LEPIDUS , the name of a See also:Roman patrician See also:family in the Aemilian gens.
1. See also:MARCUS See also:AEMILIUS LEPIDUS, one of the three ambassadors sent to See also:Egypt in 201 B. C. as guardians of the See also:infant See also: 2. MARCUS AEMILIUS LEPIDUS, surnamed PORCINA (probably from his See also:personal See also:appearance), consul 137 B.C. Being sent to See also:Spain to conduct the Numantine war, he began against the will of the See also:senate to attack the Vaccaei. This enterprise was so unsuccessful that he was deprived of his command in 136 and condemned to pay a See also:fine. He was among the greatest of the earlier Roman orators, and See also:Cicero praises him for having or hairy with a curiously forked tail-segment. A similar larva characterizes the See also:South See also:American Brassolinae or See also:owl-butterflies 'e ~ After A. R. See also:Grote, Nalu.ol See also:Science, vol. 12 (J. M. Dent & Co.). 2, Sub-costal. 3, Radial. 4, Median. 5, Cubital. 7, 8, Anal nervures. Regions. robust See also:insects (See also:figs. 72, 73) with the areolets closed in both wings, which are adorned with large " See also:eye-spots " beneath. The Satyrinae, introduced the well-constructed See also:sentence and even flow of from the most diverse See also:industries. The Academie See also:des Sciences See also:language from See also:Greek into Roman See also:oratory. conferred on him the See also:Montyon See also:prize. See also:Napoleon III., who held Cicero, See also:Brutus, 25, 27, 86, 97; See also:Veil. Pat. ii. To; See also:Appian, Hisp. him in high esteem, entrusted him with the organization of the 8o-83; Livy, epit. 56. See also:Exhibition of 1855, and appointed him counsellor of See also:state, 3. MARCUS AEMILIUS LEPIDUS, See also:father of the triumvir. In See also:commissioner See also:general of the Exhibition of 1867, senator of the 81 B.C. he was See also:praetor of See also:Sicily, where he made himself detested See also:empire and See also:grand officer of the See also:Legion of See also:Honour. He died in by oppression and See also:extortion. In the See also:civil See also:wars he sided with See also:Paris on the 5th of See also:April 1882. See also:Sulla and bought much of the confiscated See also:property of the Marian partisans. Afterwards he became See also:leader of the popular party, In 1856 Le See also:Play founded the Societe Internationale des etudes d with the help of See also:Pompey elected consul for in site pratiques d'Economie sociale, which has devoted its energies princip- and was e 78, spite ally to forwarding social studies on the lines laid down by its founder. of the opposition of Sulla. When the See also:dictator died, Lepidus The See also:journal of the society, La Reforme sociale, founded in 1881, is tried in vain to prevent the See also:burial of his See also:body in the Campus published fortnightly. Other See also:works of Le Play are La Reforme Martins, and to alter the constitution established by him. His sociale (2 vols., 1864; 7th ed., 3 vols., 1887); L'Organisation de la Lutatius See also:Catulus found a See also:tribune to his See also:veto on famille (1871); La Constitution de l'Angleterre (in collaboration with colleague See also:place M. Delaire, 1875). See See also:article in Harvard Quarterly Journal of
Lepidus's proposals; and the See also:quarrel between the two parties See also:Economics (See also:June 1890), by H. Higgs.
in the state became so acute that the senate made the consuls LEPROSY (Lepra Arabum, See also:Elephantiasis Graecorum, Aussatz, swear not to take up arms. Lepidus was then ordered by the Spedalskhed), the greatest disease of See also:medieval Christendom, senate to go to his See also:province, Transalpine See also:Gaul; but he stopped identified, on the one See also:hand, with a disease endemic from the in See also:Etruria on his way from the See also:city and began to See also:levy an See also:army. earliest See also:historical times (1500 B.C.) in the See also:delta and valley of the He was declared a public enemy See also:early in 77, and forthwith See also:Nile, and, on the other hand, with a disease now See also:common in See also:Asia, marched against See also:Rome. A See also:battle took place in the Campus See also:Africa, South See also:America, the See also:West Indies, and certain isolated See also:Martius, Pompey and Catulus commanding the senatorial army, localities of See also:Europe. An See also:authentic See also:representation of the leprosy and Lepidus was defeated. He sailed to See also:Sardinia, in See also:order to of the See also:middle ages exists in a picture at See also:Munich by See also:Holbein, put himself into connexion with See also:Sertorius in Spain, but here also painted at. See also:Augsburg in 1516; St See also: He joined the See also:arm is covered with See also: His province of Gaul and Spain was taken from by the bacillus leprae, a specific microbe discovered by Armauer him; and, though he was included in the triumvirate when it See also:Hansen in 1871. It is worthy of See also:note that See also:tuberculosis is very was renewed in 37, his See also:power was only nominal. He made an effort in the following See also:year to regain some reality of power, conquered part of Sicily, and claimed the whole See also:island as his province, but Octavian found means to See also:sap the fidelity of his soldiers, and he was obliged to supplicate for his See also:life. He was allowed to retain his See also:fortune and the See also:office of pontifex maximus to which he had been appointed in 44, but had to retire into private life. According to Suetonius (Augustus, 16) he died at Circeii in the year 13. See ROME : See also:History ii., " The See also:Republic," See also:Period C, ad fen. ; Appian, See also:Bell. Civ. ii.-v.; Dio See also:Cassius xli.-xlix.; Veil. Pat. ii. 64, 8o; See also:Orelli's Onomaslicon to Cicero. LE PLAY, See also:PIERRE See also:GUILLAUME See also:FREDERIC (1806-1882), See also:French engineer and economist, was See also:born at La See also:Riviere-See also:Saint-Sauveur (See also:Calvados) on the Ilth of April 18o6, the son of a See also:custom-See also:house See also:official. He was educated at the Ecole Poly-technique, and from there passed into the State See also:Department of Mines. In 1834 he was appointed head of the permanent See also:committee of See also:mining See also:statistics, and in 184o engineer-in-See also:chief and See also:professor of metallurgy at the school of mines, where he became inspector in 1848. For nearly a See also:quarter of a See also:century Le Play spent his vacations travelling in the various countries of Europe, and collected a vast quantity of material bearing upon the social See also:condition of the working classes. In 1855 he published See also:Les Ouvriers europeens, which comprised a See also:series of See also:thirty-six monographs on the budgets of typical families selected common among lepers, and especially attacks the serous membranes. The essential See also:character of leprosy is a great multiplication of cells, resembling the " granulation cells " of See also:lupus and syphilis, in the tissues affected, which become infiltrated and thickened, with degeneration and destruction of their normal elements. The new cells vary in size from See also:ordinary leucocytes to See also:giant cells three or four times larger. The bacilli are found in these cells, sometimes in small See also:numbers, sometimes in masses. The structures most affected are the skin, nerves, mucous membranes and lymphatic glands. The symptoms arise from the anatomical changes indicated, and they vary according to the parts attacked. Three types of disease are usually described—(1) nodular, (2) smooth or anaesthetic, (3) mixed. In the first the skin is chiefly affected, in the second the nerves; the third combines the features of both. It should be understood that this See also:classification is purely a matter of convenience, and is based on the relative prominence of symptoms, which may be combined in all degrees. The See also:incubation period of leprosy—assuming it to be due to infection—is unknown, but cases are on See also:record which can only be explained on the See also:hypothesis that it may be many years. The invasion is usually slow and intermittent. There are occasional feverish attacks, with the usual constitutional disturbance and other slight premonitory signs, such as changes in the See also:colour of the skin and in its sensibility. Sometimes, but rarely, the onset is acute and the characteristic symptoms develop rapidly. These begin with an eruption which differs markedly according to the type of disease. In the nodular See also:form dark red or coppery patches appear on the face, backs of the hands, and feet or on the body; they are generally symmetrical, and vary from the size of a See also:shilling upwards. They come with one of the feverish attacks and fade away when it has gone, but only to return. After a See also:time in-filtration and thickening of the skin become noticeable, and the nodules appear. They are lumpy excrescences, at first See also:pink but changing to brown. Thickening of the skin of the face produces a highly characteristic appearance, recalling the aspect of a See also:lion. The tissues of the eye undergo degenerative changes; the mucous membrane of the See also:nose and See also:throat is thickened, impairing the breathing and the See also:voice; the eyebrows fall off; the ears and nose become thickened and enlarged. As the disease progresses the nodules tend to break down and ulcerate, leaving open sores. The patient, whose condition is extremely wretched, gradually becomes weaker, and eventually succumbs to exhaustion or is carried off by some intercurrent disease, usually inflammation of the kidneys or tuberculosis. A severe See also:case may end fatally in two years, but, as a See also:rule, when patients are well cared for the illness lasts several years. There is often temporary improvement, but See also:complete recovery from this form of leprosy rarely or never occurs. The smooth type is less severe and more chronic. The eruption consists of patches of dry, slightly discoloured skin, not elevated. above the See also:surface. These patches are the result of morbid changes affecting the cutaneous nerves, and are accompanied by ,diminished sensibility over the areas of skin affected. At the same time certain See also:nerve trunks in the arm and leg, and particularly the ulnar nerve, are found to be thickened. In the further stages the symptoms are those of increasing degeneration of the nerves. Bullae form on the skin, and the discoloured patches become enlarged; sensation is lost, See also:muscular power diminished, with wasting, contraction of tendons, and all the signs of impaired See also:nutrition. The nails become hard and clawed; perforating ulcers of the feet are common; portions of the extremities, including whole fingers and toes, See also:die and drop off. Later, See also:paralysis becomes more marked, affecting the muscles of the face and limbs. The disease runs a very chronic course, and may last twenty or thirty years. Recovery occasion-ally occurs. In the mixed form, which is probably the most common, the symptoms described are combined in varying degrees. Leprosy may be mistaken for syphilis, tuberculosis, ainhum (an obscure disease affecting negroes, in which the little toe drops off), and several affections of the skin. Diagnosis is established by the presence of the bacillus leprae in the nodules or bullae, and by the signs of nerve degeneration exhibited in the anaesthetic patches of skin and the thickened nerve trunks.
In former times leprosy was often confounded with other skin diseases, especially See also:psoriasis and leucoderma; the white leprosy of the Old Testament was probably a form of the latter. But there is no doubt that true leprosy has existed from time immemorial. Prescriptions for treating it have been found in Egypt, to which a date of about 4600 B.C. is assigned. The disease is described by See also:Aristotle and by later Greek writers, but not by See also:Hippocrates, though leprosy derives its name from his " lepra " or " scaly " disease, which was no doubt psoriasis. In See also:ancient times it was widely prevalent throughout Asia as well as in Egypt, and among the Greeks and See also:Romans. In the middle ages it became extensively diffused in Europe, and in some countries—See also:France, See also:England, See also:Germany and Spain—every considerable See also:town had its leper-house, in which the patients were segregated. The See also:total number of such houses has been reckoned at 19,000. The earliest one in England was established at See also:Canterbury in 1096, and the latest at See also:Highgate in 1472. At one time there were at least 95 religious hospitals for lepers in Great See also:Britain and 14 in See also:Ireland (See also:Sir See also: During the 15th century the disease underwent a remarkable diminution. It practically disappeared in the civilized parts of Europe, and the leper-houses were given up. It is a singular fact that this diminution was coincident with the great See also:extension of syphilis (see See also:PROSTITUTION). The general disappearance of leprosy at this time is the more unintelligible because it did not takeeffect everywhere. In See also:Scotland the disease lingered until the 19th century, and in some other parts it has never died out at all. At the See also:present time it still exists in Norway, See also:Iceland, along the shores of the Baltic, in South See also:Russia, See also:Greece, See also:Turkey, several Mediterranean islands, the See also:Riviera, Spain and See also:Portugal. Isolated cases occasionally occur elsewhere, but they are usually imported. The See also:Teutonic races seem to be especially See also:free from the' taint. Leper asylums are maintained in Norway and at two or three places in the Baltic, See also:San Remo, See also:Cyprus, See also:Constantinople, See also:Alicante and See also:Lisbon. Except in Spain, where some increase has taken place, the disease is dying out. The number of lepers in Norway was 3000 in 1856, but has now dwindled to a few hundreds. They are no longer numerous in any part of Europe. On the other hand, leprosy prevails extensively throughout Asia, from the Mediterranean to See also:Japan, and from See also:Arabia to See also:Siberia. It is also found in nearly all parts of Africa, particularly on the See also:east and west coasts near the See also:equator. In South Africa it has greatly increased, and attacks the Dutch as well as natives. Leper asylums have been established at Robben Island near Cape Town, and in Tembuland. In_7lustralia, where it was introduced by See also:Chinese, it has also spread to Europeans. In New See also:Zealand the Maoris are affected; but the amount of leprosy is not large in either See also:country. A much more remarkable case is that of the Hawaiian Islands, where the disease is believed to have been imported by Chinese. It was unknown before 1848, but in 1866 the number of lepers had risen to 230 and in 1882 to 4000 (Liveing),. All attempts to stop it by segregating lepers.in the See also:settlement of Molokai appear to have been See also:fruit-less. In the West Indies and on the American See also:continent, again, leprosy has a wide See also:distribution. It is found in nearly all parts of South and Central America, and in certain parts of See also:North America—namely, See also:Louisiana, See also:California (among Chinese), See also:Minnesota, See also:Wisconsin and North and South Dakota (Norwegians), New See also:Brunswick (French Canadians). It is difficult to find any explanation of the See also:geographical distribution and behaviour of leprosy. It seems to affect islands and the See also:sea-See also:coast more than the interior, and to some extent this gives colour to the old belief that it is caused or fostered by a See also:fish See also:diet, which has been revived by Mr See also:Jonathan See also:Hutchinson, but is not generally accepted. Leprosy is found in interiors where fish is not an article of diet. See also:Climate, again, has obviously little, if any, influence. The theory of See also:heredity is equally at See also:fault, whether it be applied to account for the spread of the disease by transmission or for its disappearance by the elimination of susceptible persons. The latter is the manner in which heredity might be expected to See also:act, if at all, for lepers are remarkably sterile. But we see the disease persisting among the Eastern races, who have been continuously exposed to its selective influence from the earliest times, while it has disappeared among the Europeans, who were affected very much later. The opposite theory of hereditary transmission from parents to offspring is also at variance with many observed facts. Leprosy is very rarely congenital, and no cases have occurred among the descendants to the third See also:generation of 16o See also:Norwegian lepers settled in the See also:United States. Again, if hereditary transmission were an effective influence, the disease could hardly have died down so. rapidly as it did in Europe in the 15th century. Then we have the theory of contagion. There is no doubt that human beings are inoculable with leprosy, and that the disease may be communicated by See also:close contact. Cases have been recorded which prove it conclusively; for instance, that of a man who had never been out of the British islands, but See also:developed leprosy after sharing for a time the See also:bed and clothes of his See also:brother, who had contracted the disease in the West Indies. Some of the facts noted, such as the extensive dissemination of the disease in Europe during the middle ages, and its subsequent rapid decline, suggest the existence of some unknown epidemic See also:factor. Poverty and insanitation are said to go with the prevalence of leprosy, but they go with every malady, and there is nothing to show that they have any See also:special influence. See also:Vaccination has been blamed for spreading it, and a few cases of communication by arm-to-arm inoculation are recorded. The influence of this factor, however, can only be trifling. Vaccination is a new thing, leprosy a very old one; where there is most vaccination there is no leprosy, and where there is most leprosy there is little or no vaccination. In India 78% of the lepers are unvaccinated, and in See also:Canton since vaccination was introduced leprosy has declined (Cantlie). On the whole we must conclude that there is still much to be learnt about the conditions which govern the prevalence of leprosy. With regard to prevention, the See also:isolation of patients is obviously desirable, especially in the later stages, when open sores may disseminate the bacilli; but complete segregation, which has been urged, is regarded as impracticable by those who have had most experience in leprous districts. Scrupulous cleanliness should be exercised by persons attending on lepers or brought into close contact with them. In treatment the most essential thing is general care of the See also:health, with See also:good See also:food and clothing. The tendency of modern See also:therapeutics to attach increasing importance to nutrition in various morbid states, and notably in diseases of degeneration, such as tuberculosis and affections of the See also:nervous See also:system, is See also:borne out by experience in leprosy, which has See also:affinities to both; and this suggests the application to it of modern methods for improving See also:local as well as general nutrition by See also:physical means. A large number of See also:internal remedies have been tried with varying results; those most recommended are chaulmoogra oil, See also:arsenic, salicylate of soda, salol and chlorate of potash. Vergueira uses Collargol intravenously and sub-cutaneously, and states that in all the cases treated there was marked improvement, and See also:hair that had been lost See also:grew again. Calmette's Anterenene injected subcutaneously has been followed by good results. Deycke together with R. See also:Bey isolated from a non-ulcerated leprous nodule a streptothrix which they See also:call S. leproides. Its relation to the bacillus is uncertain. They found that injections of this organism had marked curative effects, due to a neutral See also:fat which they named " Nastin." Injections of Nastin together with Benzoyl Chloride directly act on the lepra bacilli. Some cases were unaffected by this treatment, but with others the effect was marvellous. Dr W. A. See also:Pusey of See also:Chicago uses applications of See also:carbon dioxide See also:snow with good effect. In the later stages of the disease there is a wide See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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