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King's Evil
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Morbus Regis. A
scrofulous disease, the curing of which was formerly attributed
to the king of England, from the time of Edward the Confessor.
This practice was called touching for the evil. [Hoblyn1855]
An old, but not yet obsolete, name given to
the scrofula, which in the popular estimation was deemed capable
of cure by the royal touch. The practice of " touching " for the
scrofula, or " King's Evil," was confined amongst the nations of
Europe to the two Royal Houses of England and France. As the monarchs
of both these countries owned the exclusive right of being anointed
with the pure chrism, and not with the ordinary sacred oil, it has
been surmised that the common belief in the sanctity of the chrism
was in some manner inseparably connected with faith in the healing
powers of the royal touch. [Britannica1911].
Scrofula, a tubercular
infection of the throat lymph glands; also sometimes syphilis. The
name originated in the time of Edward the Confessor, with the belief
that the disease could be cured by the touch of the king of England.
[Webster1913]
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Kwashiorkor
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Severe protein malnutrition, especially in children after weaning,
marked by lethargy, growth retardation, anemia, edema, potbelly,
skin depigmentation, and hair loss or change in hair color. [Heritage]
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