Leprosy
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Leprosy. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
an infectious disease due to a minute parasitic plant, called the bacillus of leprosy. It is not considered hereditary. Leprosy is transmitted from one person to another by actual contact with a diseased body. Leprosy is described in the books of Moses. It was formerly prevalent throughout Europe, but is now confined to isolated cases in Norway, Sweden, and Hungary. Although a hard thing to do, civilized communities exclude lepers from communication with their friends. A lazaretto, or hospital for lepers is maintained at Bergen, Norway. It has 130 inmates. There is a leper settlement in the Gulf of St. Lawrence now containing possibly a score of persons. Leprosy is quite prevalent in the Sandwich Islands where the islet of Molokai, set apart for them, is inhabited by over 1,000 lepers. A hospital for lepers is maintained on an islet off the north coast of Cuba. There are several hundred inmates. A lepers' colony has been established in the Philippines. There are in all about 4,000 lepers in the islands. Leprosy is still prevalent around the coasts of Egypt, Asia Minor , and farther Asia. There are said to be 250,000 lepers in India. It is believed that there are 200 lepers scattered through the cities of the United States . A picture of the leper's hard lot is drawn well by Lew Wallace in Ben Hur. See Damien Lesage or LeSage, Alain Rene alan rena'le sazh' (1668-1747), a French novelist and dramatist. He was born at Boulognesur-Mer. He was educated at Paris for the law, but soon turned his attention to literature. He achieved no success, however, until he was forty years old, when the two plays, Crispin Rival de Son Maitre and Turcaret, won him reputation as a playwright. His most famous work is the novel, Gil Blas de Santillane, which has become a classic. See Gil Blas QUOTATIONS. It may be said that his wit shines at the expense of his memory. Facts are stubborn things. Plain as a pike-staff.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a disease characterized by the formation of scaly patches on the skin, of different sizes, but having always nearly a circular form. Physicians appointed sub-editor, 1891; distinguish three varieties of this disease to devote time to novel writing, -Lepra vulgaris, or common leprosy; He published "Guilty Bonds" Lepra alphos, or white leprosy; and in England Lepra nigricans, or black leprosy. Lepin " (1894); "The rosy first manifests itself in small dis- Secret Service" tinct reddish elevations of the cuticle, Dice" (1896); "The which enlarge till they sometimes attain . They are covered the size of a coin with scales, which accumulate and form a thick prominent crust, and are quickly reproduced as they fall off. In lepra lphos the scale patches are smaller than in lepra vulgaris, and have also their central parts depressed or indented. The lepra nigricans differs from the others chiefly in the color of the patches, Leprosy dark and livid. which are originated in Egypt and Arabia at a very early period. It is frequently alluded to regulain the Scriptures; and special tions were prescribed concerning erning those afflicted with it by the Mosaic law, 1491 the Greeks and Romans, and is described by Hippocrates 130-200). B. C. (460-357 B. c.) and Galen (A. D. disease into The crusaders introduced the Europe, where it raged with virulence during the Middle Ages. Since the commencement of the 17th century the dishas almost entirely disappeared limited to from Europe, where it is now ease the most northern and southern countries.