anguage on the whole good Attic; he paid great
attention to versification, and was supposed to have invented a peculiar
kind of metre. The ancients were undecided whether to class him among
the writers of the New or Middle comedy. In his fondness for
mythological subjects (_Hercules_, _Theseus_) and his introduction on
the stage (by a bold anachronism) of the poets Archilochus and Hipponax
as rivals of Sappho, he approximates to the spirit of the latter.

Fragments in H. Koch, _Comicorum Atticorum fragmenta_, ii.; see J.
Denis, _La Comedie grecque_ (1886), ii. p. 414; R. W. Bond in
_Classical Review_ (Feb. 1910, with trans. of _Emporos_ fragm.).

DIPHTHERIA (from [Greek: diphthera], a skin or membrane), the term
applied to an acute infectious disease, which is accompanied by a
membranous exudation on a mucous surface, generally on the tonsils and
back of the throat or pharynx.

In general the symptoms at the commencement of an attack of diphtheria
are comparatively slight, being those commonly accompanying a cold, viz.
chilliness and depression. Sometimes more severe phenomena usher in the
attack, such as vomiting and diarrhoea. A slight feeling of uneasiness
in the throat is experienced along with some stiffness of the back of
the neck. When looked at the throat appears reddened and somewhat
swollen, particularly in the neighbourhood of the tonsils, the soft
palate and upper part of pharynx, while along with this there is
tenderness and swelling of the glands at the angles of the jaws. The
affection of the throat spreads rapidly, and soon the characteristic
exudation appears on the inflamed surface in the form of greyish-white
specks or patches, increasing in extent and thickness until a
yellowish-looking false membrane is formed. This deposit is firmly
adherent to the mucous membrane beneath or incorporated with it, and if
removed leaves a raw, bleeding, ulcerated surface, upon which it is
reproduced in a short period. The appearance of the exudation has been
compared to wet parchment or washed leather, and it is more or less
dense in texture. It may cover the whole of the back of the throat, the
cavity of the mouth, and the posterior nares, and spread downwards into
the air-passages on the one hand and into the alimentary canal on the
other, while any wound on the surface of the body is liable to become
covered with it. This membrane is apt to be detached spontaneously, and
as it loosens it becomes deco