title: Syphilus.
abstract: This paper recounts the history of the origin of the term syphilis and presents a partial translation of Fracastoro's poem, Syphilis, Sive Morbus Gallicus, wherein the word first appeared. The circumstances of the first known great epidemic of syphilis are told.
mesh_terms: D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D011037:Poetry as Topic; D013587:Syphilis / Q000266:history*; D009626:Terminology as Topic