Tuber Tuberous Tuberculosis

Phthysis

Consumption

Harvesting tubers or bulbs is consuming work. (V. van Gogh)	Flowering potato fields spring early every spring. (W. Trubner) .

The ideas implicit in a TUBER like the potato refer to a knob like swelling or prominence and are applied to Tuberculosis (TB or TBC) and Tuberous Sclerosis. Tuberous Sclerosis is a genetic disorder causing tuber like benign tumors and malignant neoplasias or cancer.

Starvation and work can be consuming. (de La Tour, Dujardin)

Consumption or Tuberculosis is a consumptive (destructive) disease also known as PHTHYsis (decay).

Tuberculosis, Phthisis or Consumption consumed all social classes. (Kokoshka)

In Latin, consumere has roots in "emere" and "emereo" which convey a sense of merit as in emeritus as well as "getting rid of" as in emetic.

The Spanish city of Merida or EMERITa was established by "discharged" Roman soldiers who earned their emeritus status after many years of military service. In Ukrainian, "eMERITura" is a pension.

Since ancient times it is know that alcohol in excess is an emetic. More recently, many corporations resort to "retire" adult workers to make room for younger cheaper laborers. Those so "got rid of" experience feelings of emesis rather than feelings of merit inherent in the status of emeritus. (Dusart, Jordaens)

Emeritus and ephemeris underscore the ephemeral nature of our MERITs. In fact, the effect on the affect of adults "accepting early retirement" is often more like that of an emetic than that of a meritorious "emeritura".

Consumption is destruction. When Tereo realized he consumed the flesh of his son, his guilt consumed his mental sanity. (Rubens)