he calmly retired to rest, serenely indifferent to the thunder, which seemed to shake him in his bed, and the lightning playing fitfully round the razors in his open dressing case.

— Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret, p.76

      About the year 1833 the health of Mr. Kent became so pre- carious that he was compelled to relinquish his share of the business in Aldermanbury. Twelve months afterwards he was fortunate enough to obtain the appointment of Sub-Inspector of Factories, while residing with his wife and daughters at Sid- mouth. Up to this time no cloud had passed to obscure his prospects, and a career had opened to him which presented the fairest promise of a happy and useful life.

— Joseph Stapleton, The Great Crime of 1860, pp.15-16

A contagious systemic disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum, characterized by periods of active florid manifestations and by years of symptomless latency.

— ed. Robert Berkow, The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 1977, p.1754