Medica Sacra Part 8

_The disease of king Herod._

The disease with which Herod Agrippa is said to have been smitten, by the just judgment of G.o.d, in punishment for his pride and of which he died, is remarkable. For he finished his miserable life s????????t??, that is, _eaten by worms_, as the sacred historian relates, in these words, "Upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them: and the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a G.o.d, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not G.o.d the glory; and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the[146] ghost." Josephus indeed, in his account of the fact, makes no mention of worms, but says that he was suddenly seized with violent gripings, and after being incessantly tortured with pains in his bowels for five days, he expired.[147] But saint Luke has informed us, that the worms, by which his bowels were eroded, were the cause of the gripes.

[146] _Acts, Chap. xii. v. 21-23._

[147] _Antiq. jud. Lib. xix. Cap. viii. --. 2._

Now the greatest singularity in this king's disease is, that it was instantly inflicted on him from heaven (which he himself acknowledged according to Josephus[148]) otherwise as to verminose putrefaction in human bodies, we have several instances of it. For this very king's grandfather, Herod, surnamed the Great, is said to have labour'd under this disease a long time, till at length it threw him into a decay, of which he died.[149] Likewise Herodotus relates of Pheretima, the mother of Arcesilaus, king of Cyrene, that she was rotted alive by worms.[150] And it is recorded of the Roman emperor Galerius Maximia.n.u.s, that this same loathsome disease not only eat away his genital members, but put an end to his life.[151] Wherefore it was impossible, but that some at least of the Greek physicians must have observed some cases of this kind. And accordingly Galen has proposed medicines for ulcers, s?????a? ????ta, that is, abounding with worms.[152] For he says, in abscesses there are frequently found animals, ??a, very like those, which are engendered from corruption.[153]

And Philoxenus in Aetius says, that _in the humor of Atheroma's, he sometimes found animals, like gnats or little flies_.[154] In fine, Paulus Aegineta teaches the method of getting rid of them.[155]

[148] _Ubi supra._

[149] _Josephus Ant. Jud. Lib. xvii. Cap. vi. (an. viii?) -- 5. & De Bello Jud. Lib. i. Cap. x.x.xiii. -- 5._

[150] _Hist. Lib. 4. a fine_ ??sa e????? e?e?ese.

[151] _s.e.xt. Aurel. Victor. Epitom. & Pompon. Laeti Rom.

Hist. compend._

[152] _De compos. Medic. per genera, L. iv. Cap. x._

[153] _Lib. de tumorib. praeter nat. Cap. iv._

[154] _Lib. xv. Cap. vii._

[155] _Lib. iv. Cap. xlii._

In so clear a case, it is needless to collect a greater number of authorities from the ancients, especially since several modern physicians have made the same observations. For Marcellus Donatus mentions a person of high rank, extremely fat, whose belly was eroded and mortified by little worms engendered in his skin, which was excessively distended by fat and humors; and these worms were not unlike those produced in old rotten cheese.[156] The learned Nicolaus Tulpius saw worms very like these, issuing with the urine out of the body of a very celebrated physician.[157] And the Ephemerides naturae curiosorum, contain three remarkable cases of this kind. The first is that of a certain Frenchman, whose blood was so corrupted, that very minute animals came forth day and night with horrid tortures, thro'

most of the outlets of the skin, as the eyes, nose, mouth, and bladder; and at length put an end to his miserable life.[158] In the second, black worms, not unlike scarabaei or beetles, came out of an abscess formed in the calf of the leg of a girl.[159] And in the third it is said, that very small white worms issued with the milk from the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of a woman in childbed.[160] Nor can I omit two similar cases, one of which is related by Poterius, the other by his commentator Frideric Hoffman. The former attended a countryman, for a tumor on his right knee, out of which, when opened, little live worms issued, which caused an intolerable pain in the part by their bitings.

And the latter saw a tradesman, who had a hard tumor about the veins of the arms, which was very troublesome to him. This was opened by a surgeon several times without any benefit; until an ulcer was formed, out of which he took a great number of little black worms, armed with stings or p.r.i.c.kles.[161]

[156] _De hist. medic. mirab. Lib. i. Cap. v._

[157] _Observ. medic. Lib. ii. Cap. 1._

[158] _Decur. 2. ann. 5. append. Artic. 38._

[159] _Ibid. Artic. 52._

[160] _Ibid. Artic. 109._

[161] _Poterii opera c.u.m annot. Frid. Hoffmanni edita, Francof. 1698. pag. 72._

Now these histories, wonderful as they seem, are not to be refused credit. For all nature is animated in a surprizing degree. The air which we breathe, the food which we eat; all fluids especially, are full of animalcula of very different kinds. Whence it is possible, that some of these, being received into our bodies, and conveyed into the minute pa.s.sages of the softest parts, as into nests, may there grow, as worms do in the intestines, to their proper size. Hence by the obstruction of the smallest vessels, tumors arise; which being suppurated by heat, and bursting, pour forth their foul offspring in the shape of worms.

Wherefore I cannot agree with those interpreters, who imagine that Herod was consumed by, and died of the _phthiriasis_, or _louzy disease_. For s????? is a different creature from f?e??; this corrodes the surface of the skin, that the inner parts of the body. Nor can it admit of doubt, that saint Luke, who was a physician, well understood the meaning of both the words. And yet I know that the disease proceeding ?p? t?? f?e???? is by some learned men confounded with that caused ?p? t?? s???????; of the first of which Pherecides Syrius,[162]

and Lucius Sylla,[163] are said to have died. Whereupon Kuhnius says,[164] _I look upon the word_ s????????t?? _in saint Luke, and_ f?e?????t?? _in Hesychius_,[165] _to be synonimous terms_: and his reason is, because lice are worms.

[162] _aelian. var. hist. Lib. iv. Cap. 28._

[163] _Plutarcho in ejus vita._

[164] _Not. ad aelianum._

[165] _Lib. de vit. philos._

The END.