COURAP, the modern name for a distemper
very common in Java and other parts of the East
Indies. It is a sort of herpes or itch on the arm pits,
groins, breast, and face; the itching is almost perpe-
tual; and the scratching is followed by great pain and
a discharge of matter, which makes the linen stick so
to the skin as not easily to be separated without tear-
ing off the crust. Courap is a general name for any
sort of itch; but this distemper is thus called by way
of eminence. It is so contagious that few escape it.
For the cure, gentle and repeated purging is used, and
externally the sublimate in a small quantity is a good
topic.