_The disease of king Herod._
THE disease with which Herod Agrippa is said to have been smitten, by
the just judgment of God, in punishment for his pride and of which he
died, is remarkable. For he finished his miserable life [Greek:
skôlêkobrôtos], 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 god, and not of a
man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave
not God 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
Maximianus, 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, [Greek: skôlêkas echonta], that is, abounding
with worms.[152] For he says, in abscesses there are frequently found
animals, [Greek: zôa], 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. xxxiii. § 5._
[150] _Hist. Lib. 4. a fine_ [Greek: Zôsa euleôn exezese].
[151] _Sext. Aurel. Victor. Epitom. & Pompon. Laeti Rom.
Hist. compend._
[152] _De compos. Medic. per genera, L. iv. Cap. x._
[153] _Lib. de tumorib. præter 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 naturæ
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 scarabæi 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
breasts 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 prickles.[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 cum 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 passages 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 [Greek: skôlêx] is a different creature from [Greek:
phtheir]; 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 [Greek: hypo tôn phtheirôn] is by
some learned men confounded with that caused [Greek: hypo tôn
skôlêkôn]; 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_ [Greek: skôlêkobrôtos] _in saint Luke, and_
[Greek: phtheirobrôtos] _in Hesychius_,[165] _to be synonimous terms_:
and his reason is, because lice are worms.
[162] _Ælian. var. hist. Lib. iv. Cap. 28._
[163] _Plutarcho in ejus vita._
[164] _Not. ad Ælianum._
[165] _Lib. de vit. philos._
The END.
Transcriber's Note
Obvious punctuation errors have been corrected. Due to the age of the
text, varied spelling has been preserved.