Book II Sy PHILIS 147

bygone ages we must believe it was observed by our ancestors.
There are in fact many proofs of this still extant.

A certain barber, a friend of mine, had in his possession &
small and very old book in which were certain prescriptions.
Now among others there was one prescription entitled ^For use
in the thick form of Scabies that is accompanied by Pains in
the Joints'. Accordingly, when this disease first appeared
and was still entirely novel, he remembered that remedy and
consulted certain doctors as to whether he ought to use it in
that new contagion, which he thought was identical with 'thick
scabies'. But the doctors, after inspecting the remedy, em—
phatically forbade him to use it, because it was compounded
of quicksilver and sulphur. He would have been a lucky man
if he had not consulted those doctors, for he would have made
profits beyond belief and become a rich man. However he
obeyed them, and did not dare to use the remedy. But finally
he did try it, recognised that it was the best possible, and was
deeply chagrined that he had not employed it until so late, for
his profits had by that time been snatched from him by others.
We can surely see from this that this disease had appeared
'in former times as well as in our own.  In fact some authorities
believe that Avicennas5' also was referring to syphilis when,
under the heading 'Olibanum'/5? he said that incense mixed
with vinegar and oil and used as an ointment is good for a cer—
tain pain. ^I mean'", said he, "the pain that is accompanied
by warts of a sort, which break out on the body and seem to
run about like ants". However, that remark is not to the
point, for Avicenna is there merely translating what Dioscurides
writes5s 'On Incense!, where he says: *In the early stage,
compounded as an ointment with vinegar and pitch, it removes
ant—like warts and impetigo?'. Dioscurides here means the
disease called ^Myrmecia?.54

TTo return to my subject, we must classify French Sickness
as a new disease, and as one of a class that seldom manifest
themselves. It follows that its causes and principles (primary
agents) must be such as seldom arise. Moreover these causes
and principles must be such that they are common not only to
many human beings, but also to many parts of the world.  Buch
conditions can be referred to no other cause than the constitu—
tion of the air. We must now enquire what was the nature of
this constitution, and from what principles it arose.