In the 5th century B.C., Hippocrates used the word "podagra" to designate the disease or its carrier. The term was descriptive. In Greek, it means "caught by the foot", evoking the trap in which the animal is captured (agra meaning hunt or catch). It was in the 9th century that the term gout was introduced into popular parlance. Rheuma (rheumatism or discharge) is compared to a noxious mood distilled "drop by drop" in the joints and organs. Its meaning...