As urged above, distracted by the bane;
But when at length the morbid cause declines,
And the fermenting humours from the heart
Flow back—with staggering foot first treads
Led gradual on to intellect and strength."—Lucretius.
Epilepsy, or "Falling Sickness", is a chronic abnormality of the nervous system, evinced by attacks of alteration of consciousness, usually accompanied by convulsions.
It attacks men of every race, as well as domesticated animals, and has been known since the earliest times, the ancients imputing it to demons, the anger of the gods, or a blow from a star.
It often attacks men in crowds, when excited by
oratory or sport, hence the Roman name: morbus comitialis (crowd sickness).
In mediæval times, sufferers were regarded with awe, as being possessed by a spirit. Witch doctors among savages, and founders and expounders of differing creeds among more civilized peoples, have taken advantage of this infirmity to claim divine inspiration, and the power of "seeing visions" and prophesying.