(Acts xii. 23). The following died of a similar disease [phthiriasis]: L. Sylla; Pherecydes the Syrian (the preceptor of Pythagoras); the Greek poet Alemæon, and Philip II. of Spain.
Phthiriasis is an affection of the skin in which parasites are engendered so numerously as to cover the whole surface of the body. The vermin lay their eggs in the skin and multiply most rapidly.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894