Hadith 31-142

[41] Elephantiasis is a form of leprosy that pervaded throughout Europe in the latter part of the Middle Ages. It is a certain disease, arising from the spreading of the black bile throughout the whole person, so that it corrupts the temperament of the body members, and the external conditions thereof; and sometimes in the dissundering, or corrosion of the body members and their falling off, in consequence of ulceration, so called because it dissunders the flesh, and causes it to fall off; or because the fingers, or toes become cut-off. It is a cracking of the skin, and a dissundering and gradual falling off of the flesh. However, leprosy is a well-known disease, which is a whiteness incident in the skin, which appears upon the exterior of the body, by reason of a corrupt state of constitution.