muscles, falling out of the hair and nails, and distortion of the hands and feet with destruction of the
bones and joints. It is incurable, and is probably contagious.
The disease now called leprosy, also designated as Lepra or Lepra Arabum, and Elephantiasis Græcorum,
is not the same as the leprosy of the ancients. The latter was, indeed, a generic name for many varieties
of skin disease some of which, among the Hebrews, rendered a person ceremonially unclean. A variety
of leprosy of the Hebrews (probably identical with modern leprosy) was characterized by the presence
of smooth, shining, depressed white patches or scales, the hair on which participated in the whiteness,
while the skin and adjacent flesh became insensible. It was an incurable disease.
Leprous
(Lep"rous) a. [OF. leprous, lepros, F. lépreux, fr. L. leprosus, fr. lepra, leprae, leprosy. See
Leper.]
1. Infected with leprosy; pertaining to or resembling leprosy. "His hand was leprous as snow." Ex. iv. 6.
2. (Nat. Hist.) Leprose.
— Lep"rous*ly, adv. — Lep"rous*ness, n.
Lepry
(Lep"ry) n. Leprosy. [Obs.] Holland.
Leptiform
(Lep"ti*form) a. [Leptus + -form.] (Zoöl.) Having a form somewhat like leptus; — said of active
insect larvæ having three pairs of legs. See Larva.
Leptocardia
(||Lep`to*car"di*a) n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. lepto`s small + kardi`a the heart.] (Zoöl.) The lowest
class of Vertebrata, including only the Amphioxus. The heart is represented only by a simple pulsating
vessel. The blood is colorless; the brain, renal organs, and limbs are wanting, and the backbone is represented
only by a simple, unsegmented notochord. See Amphioxus. [Written also Leptocardii.]
Leptocardian
(Lep`to*car"di*an) a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Leptocardia. — n. One of the Leptocardia.
Leptodactyl
(Lep`to*dac"tyl) n. [Gr. lepto`s small, thin + da`ktylos finger, toe.] (Zoöl.) A bird or other
animal having slender toes. [Written also lepodactyle.]
Leptodactylous
(Lep`to*dac"tyl*ous) a. Having slender toes.
Leptology
(Lep*tol"o*gy) n. [Gr. leptologi`a; lepto`s small, subtile + lo`gos discourse.] A minute and
tedious discourse on trifling things.
Leptomeningitis
(||Lep`to*men`in*gi"tis) n. [NL., fr. Gr. lepto`s small + meningitis.] (Med.) Inflammation
of the pia mater or of the arachnoid membrane.
Leptorhine
(Lep"to*rhine) (lep"to*rin or *rin), a. [Gr. lepto`s small + "ri`s, "rino`s, the nose.] (Anat.)
Having the nose narrow; — said esp. of the skull. Opposed to platyrhine.
Leptostraca
(||Lep*tos"tra*ca) n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. lepto`s thin, slender + 'o`strakon shell of a testacean.]
(Zoöl.) An order of Crustacea, including Nebalia and allied forms.
Leptothrix
(||Lep"to*thrix) n. [NL., fr. Gr. lepto`s small + qri`x hair.] (Biol.) A genus of bacteria, characterized
by having their filaments very long, slender, and indistinctly articulated.
Leptothrix
(||Lep"to*thrix), a. [See Leptothrix, n. ] (Biol.) Having the form of a little chain; — applied
to bacteria when, as in multiplication by fission, they form a chain of filiform individuals.
Leptus
(||Lep"tus) n. [NL., from Gr. lepto`s thin, small.] (Zoöl.) The six-legged young, or larva, of certain
mites; — sometimes used as a generic name. See Harvest mite, under Harvest.
