Path. [mod.L., a. Gr. λεύκωμα, f. λευκοῦν to make white, f. λευκός white.] A white opacity in the cornea of the eye, the result of inflammation or of a wound; = ALBUGO.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Leucoma, a white Scar in the Horney Coat of the Eye.
1802. Med. Jrnl., VIII. 399. The disease Leucoma, or Albugo.
1853. H. Walton, Operat. Ophth. Surg., 605. The lower edge of the pupil adhered to the leucoma.
Hence Leucomaine Chem., an alkaloid found in the living body as distinguished from one found in a dead or putrefying body (ptomaine). Leucomatous a., affected with leucoma.
1887. Athenæum, 20 Aug., 247/3. It treats of the ptomaines and leucomaines … in relation to scientific medicine.
1898. P. Manson, Trop. Diseases, xxvi. 404. The cornea ulcerates or turns leucomatous, and in the end sight is entirely lost.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VI. 321. At present we know very little about the injurious effects of leucomaines and ptomaines.
