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The Plague of Lust, Vol. 2 (of 2)

Note 116 — Second Part. (continued 2)

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Plinius Valerianus, De re medica bk. II. 56., Graeco nomine lichenes appellatur, quod vulgo mentagram appellant, et est vitium, quod per totam faciem solet serpere, oculis tantum immunibus; descendit vero in collum et pectus ac manus, foedat cutem; eosque, qui sic vexantur, osculari non convenit, quoniam contactus eorum perniciosus fore perhibetur. (In Greek nomenclature the name lichenes is given to what the common people call mentagra, and is a malady that as a rule creeps over the whole face, the eyes alone being unaffected. But it also goes down to the neck and breast and hands, disfiguring the skin. It is not right for those so afflicted to kiss, for their contact is said to be injurious.)—Marcellus Empiricus, De med. liber ch. 19., Ad lichenem sive mentagram, quod vitium neglectum solet per totam faciem et per totum corpus serpere et plures homines inquinare. Nam Soranus medicus quondam ducentis hominibus hoc morbo laborantibus curandis in Aquitania se locavit. (For lichen or mentagra, a malady which if neglected will creep over the whole face and the whole body, and disfigures many men. Indeed Soranus a Physician at one time sold his professional services in Aquitania to two hundred patients suffering from this disease).

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