Pliny Natural History, Vol. VI (Loeb Latin-English)

Chest diseases.—There is little difficulty in identifying these. Pleurisy is generally referred to as laterum dolor (pain of the sides), and consumption is phthisis, though the Romans did not often use the Greek word original: "περιπνευμονία" (peripneumonia).

Skin diseases.—Vitiligo included more than one kind of psoriasis: alphos (dull white), melas (dark), and leuce (bright white).

Psora was a term for several diseases, including leprosy. It is often synonymous with our "itch."

Leprae (the singular is lepra) seems to refer to scaly conditions of the skin accompanied by itching (pruritus).

Scabies was not the same as our modern scabies, which is limited to the pustules caused by the itch mite. Celsus (V. 28, 16) describes it as a hardening of the skin that grows reddish, from which pustules with itching ulceration develop. This term likely included several kinds of eczema.

Impetigo.—The modern meaning of this term is rather vague, and the Romans apparently used it to describe some kind of eczema. Celsus (V. 28, 17) says that there are four kinds, increasing in severity, the fourth being incurable. He says that it is like scabies, but with worse ulceration.

Lichen was used for several sorts of eruptions; very often it refers to ringworm. On the chin, it was called mentagra.

Epinyctis (night pustule) was caused by fleas and bedbugs. It was also an ailment of the eyes. See page ix.

Eye diseases.—The same overlapping of meanings makes it difficult to provide an accurate identification.