Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/531

 ELEPHANTIASIS lar districts shows that local causes have some- thing to do with its production. In the West Indies the negroes, and in Ceylon the native race, are affected much more frequently than the whites; and of the whites, the Creoles, those born in the country, tire more liable than recent immigrants. In the treatment of the disease in the earlier stages, emollient applica- tions, the warm bath, and bloodletting have been advised. Some physicians think benefit has been derived from the exhibition of mer- cury. When the disease has already made considerable progress, rest in a position which favors the return of the blood from the limb, and compression by means of proper bandaging, are the means most to be relied upon. II. Elephantiasis Grcecorum, tubercular elephan- tiasis, appears to have been the disease which during the middle ages was known as leprosy ; it is most frequently met with in the West In- dia islands, and in other tropical regions, while it also prevails extensively in certain parts of Norway, where it is known as spedalslced. The disease ordinarily commences by the appear- ance of dusky shining spots upon the skin, slightly swollen, and more or less insensible. After a variable period, which may extend to months, and even years, these spots are suc- ceeded by tubercles or small tumors, soft, red- dish, or livid in color, and varying in size from a pea to an English walnut. These tubercles developed upon the face deform it excessively, giving it often a fancied resemblance to the head of the lion, whence one of the names by which the disease is known (leontiasis) is de- rived. As the disease advances, the tubercles become inflamed and ulcerated; the ulcers exude a sanious fluid, and this concretes into thick crusts; the bones become softened and altered in form. In the progress of the dis- ease the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane becomes involved, and tubercles make their appearance in the pharynx ; the sense of smell is lost, sight is weakened, and the touch blunted. In this wretched condition the pa- tient may continue to exist a long time, unless cut off, as is commonly the case, by some in- tercurrent disease. In a second form of the disease, E. ancesthetica, patches of an irregu- lar shape, sometimes slightly elevated above the surface, appear upon the extremities, of a tawny color ; in whites they are lighter than the rest of the surface ; in the negro they are dry, shining, rough, denuded of hair, and in- sensible. The hands and feet, and afterward the limbs, generally become swollen, stiff, and numb; ulcers form on the metacarpal and metatarsal articulations ; these enlarge, pene- trate the joint, and finally amputate the toes and fingers. As the disease advances, the pulse becomes slow and the bowels consti- pated ; sometimes it is complicated with the tubercles of the other variety ; in other cases the lobes of the ears, the wings of the nose, and the lips become thick, hard, swollen, and ulcerated. The patient is listless, and his in- ELEUSIS 523 tellect enfeebled, and in this condition he may live many years. The causes of tubercular ele- phantiasis are unknown ; it appears to be he- reditary ; but the once prevalent opinion of its contagiousness is not found to agree with re- cent observations. Of its proper treatment little is known. ELEPHANTINE, or Elephantina (Arab. Jeziret el-Sag, "islet of flowers," or Jeziret el-As- swari), an island of the upper Nile, about 1 m. long and m. broad, at the foot of the little cataracts, opposite Asswan, the ancient Syene. It is formed of granite covered with a fertile soil. It contains several ancient ruins ; among others, the Nilometer mentioned by Strabo, whose upper part was destroyed in 1822. sev- eral dilapidated temples, and a gateway, as well as numerous fragments of pottery with Greek inscriptions. In antiquity Elephantine 1 or Elephantis was renowned for its fertility. Herodotus regards it as marking the boundary between Egypt and Ethiopia. Elphantine was strongly garrisoned by the Persians as well as Komans. The present inhabitants are Nubians. ELEUSIS (now Levsina or Lepsina), an an- cient fortified town in Attica, on the bay of Sal amis. It was said to have been founded by Eleusis, a son of Hermes. At an early period it was conquered by the Athenians and became one of the most populous cities of Attica. Its principal importance was derived from its being the seat of the celebrated Eleusinian mysteries. These mysteries formed a peculiar religious festival celebrated in honor of the goddess Demeter (Ceres), the patroness of agri- culture, and the representative of the procrea- tive power of nature. Originally these cele- brations appear to have been something like modern thanksgiving festivals, but afterward a symbolic meaning was attached to them, and they became the vehicle of a secret science, conducive as was believed to eternal bliss. They consisted in dramatic representations of the myth of Ceres and the rape of Proserpine, her daughter, by Pluto, and would seem to have been intended to propagate the belief in the immortality of the soul, and to give an ideal meaning to the coarse fancies of the pop- ular religion. The lesser Eleusinian mysteries were celebrated at AgraB on the Ilissus during the spring, and were a preparation for the greater. The great mysteries were celebrated at Athens and Eleusis in the latter half of September and the first of October ; they lasted nine days. Except to murderers, barbarians, slaves, and afterward Epicureans and Chris- tians, the admission to the public performances and religious exercises was free for all; but in the secret allegorical representations none but the initiated were allowed to participate, and they were bound by solemn oaths never to reveal what they had seen or heard. The unity of God and the immortality of the soul are supposed to have been the secret doctrine of the mysteries ; and the symbolism of the ceremonies was probably, as Bishop Thirlwall