SCROFULA (

See also:

• LAT

Lat. for " little sow "), or STJTMA  , the general names formerly given to the disease now termed tuberculosis (q.v.)—" scrofulous," " strumous " and `` tuberculous " being nearly interchangeable . The particular characters associated with " scrofula " have, therefore, varied at different periods . when the real nature of the disease was misunderstood; but essentially what was meant was tuberculosis of the bones and lymphatic glands, with its attendant symptoms, and it is in this sense that the word survives . The old English popular name was " king's evil," so called from the belief that the sovereign's touch could effect a cure . This superstition can be traced back to the time of Edward the Confessor in England, and to a, much earlier period in France .