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Archiver > LONDON > 1998-09 > 0907177643


From: WHEATLEY Society <>
Subject: LONDON-D Digest V98 #736
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 13:47:23 -0400


Hi everybody

>>Would I be right to infer from the above that my ancestor with
>>"tubercular knee" suffered from crumbling of the knee? This
>>phrase has puzzled me as I always associated tuberculosis
>>with lung disease. Although that particular ancestor's primary
>>cause of death was lung disease (emphysema), I couldn't
>>understand what tuberculosis had to do with his knee and why
>>it was given as a secondary cause of death.

>>Tuberculosis is an infection that can (and does) affect any tissue
>>in the body from the scalp to the toes. The causative organism
>>was first isolated by Koch in the 1880s.

Everyone is correct :-) Looking in my etymological dictionary of
the 1880's (no mention of automobiles or aeroplanes!) gives the
following:-

TUBERCULAR: Full of knobs or Tubercles. Pertaining to
Tuberculosis. Tuberculouse.

TUBERCLE: A very small tuber; a warty excrescence. A
growth, usually in the shape of minute
rounded
masses, apt to spring up in the lungs,
intestines,
mesenteric glands (the membrane between the
small intestine and the abdomen), larynx, &
c.,
of scrofulous persons (which means pertaining
to tuberculosis - also known as the King's
Evil).

It also goes on to state that the word is from the humble
potato ! The Latin name TUBER means "A fleshy swelling
in an underground stem (as in the potato); A genus of
subterranean fungi.

I wish you the very best of luck with your research into your family
history.

<< regards >> David S Wheatley

(SMALLFIELD Surrey UK Tel: +44 (0)1342 843189)
The WHEATLEY Society.
The Guild Of One Name Studies (member #2279)

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ENDS

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