Part 2

But, to proceed, the celebrated Doctor smells a Rat; that unless the Air is allowed a greater Share of shedding Destruction than he has hitherto allotted it, Matters may go very hard with the whole Doctrine of _Contagion_; and therefore, notwithstanding its being a Medium for propagating _Contagion_ only, the Doctor is now willing to pronounce, with full Power, and for Fear of great Inconveniencies that follow close at the Heels of the former Doctrine, that _a corrupted State of Air is _WITHOUT DOUBT NECESSARY_ to give these contagious Atoms their full Force; for otherwise it is not easy to conceive how the Plague should ever cease, but with the Destruction_ of all the Inhabitants. Here is a Devil raised indeed, and he will not be in the least quieted, unless Dr. _Mead_ will contradict himself, and renounce the half of his Defence, for the _Pureness_ and _Uncorruptedness_ of Air. And what will not a Man do for a quiet Life. And even the _English_ Air, that could formerly kill the greatest Plague, is now without doubt under a State of Corruption: For if that is not admitted, God have Mercy on all _English_ Men. This is very kind in the Doctor, to take shame to himself for the Good of his Country.

Conveniency is a pretty Argument, but not very cogent, as we now see; for this corrupted State of Air is only an Expedient to get rid of a Pestilence; because by SUPPOSING _an Emendation of the Qualities of the Air, and restoring of it to a healthy State, capable of dissipating and suppressing the Malignity_, we put an end to the Plague in an instant. Mighty fine, and _Meadish_; tho’ he might have put a stop to a Plague at an easier rate, than the Loss of his Hypothesis; for as the stress of the Expedient rests upon another fine Word, _supposing_; why, he needed only to suppose that the whole Magazine of Poison is stopped at once, it matters not whether that be by an Army, by making it serve a _Quarantine_, by an _Amulet_, or that the raw Damp is again attracted by the Sea. I hope due Consideration will be had to this Expedient, in a new Edition of _the short Discourse_; if so be it has one. This would do much better than to make another Drawback, which we find is done in the very next Paragraph; for there, _Infection is not received from the Air it self, however predisposed, without the Concurrence of something emitted from infected Persons_. Now if Infection is never receiv’d from the Air upon any Account whatsoever, it is manifest, that the Air is a _Medium_, that can neither do Good nor Hurt, and so to the right about, and the former Allowance is recalled; so that the former Difficulty still remains, and consequently a Plague once begun in a Country, never comes to an end, as long as there is a Man alive.

The Principle upon which this Resumption is made, is, because the Progress of a Pestilence may be stopt at any time, _by strictly preventing all Intercourse of infected Places with the Neighbourhood_. He brings as a Proof of this lusty Assertion, what has lately happened in the raging Plague at _Marseilles_; and alledges, that it has been effectually confined to that miserable Town, by keeping careful Guard. But alas! this Argument is out of doors. Happy were it for the People of _France_ if they had greater Assurance of their Safety, than they can draw from such vain Promises of Insuring Physicians. And therefore his Objection remains in full Force, without any Satisfaction being given to it. I know from whence he took this Difficulty, but he ought to have been well satisfied that he had brought a full Solution to so powerful an Argument against all manner of _Contagion_. I will only repeat the Difficulty, and leave the clearing of it to the Patrons of a Pestilence being begot by _Contagion_; especially that it is a Step towards Dr. _Mead_’s next propagating Cause. It is asserted by those who oppose this _Contagion_, that a Plague is sometimes bred without it, otherwise it would be perpetual. This Assertion is made good, by considering a Country where a new Plague is broken out; and ask us, whether it be just then bred in that Country, or brought thither from elsewhere? If we grant the first, then indeed adieu to all _Contagion_: If the last, they bid us name the originary Place, where it was bred: Which would oblige us to the same Concession as the former. Therefore, say they, _Contagion_ may _propagate_ but not _begin_ a Plague.

Leaving then Doctor _Mead_ and his _Contagion_ under the Restraint of a very good Argument, we will consider in the next Place, after what manner he conveys it to a sound Person, and he _supposes_ the way to be commonly this: _These contagious Particles—taint the salival Juices_ (or Spittle) which being _swallowed down into the Stomach, presently fix their Malignity there_; as appears from _the Nausea and Vomiting, with which this Distemper often begins its first Attacks_. But all this is acknowledged to be a Supposition, and not of sufficient Strength to bear so weighty a Building upon it. _Secondly_, If a Man does nor swallow his Spittle, or if he gargles his Throat very well before he does swallow it, there would be no danger from the _Pestilence_; but this slye Plague should be easily evaded. To what Purpose is this silly Supposition to bring it into the Stomach, and then to suppose it _fixes its Malignity there_, because People are often troubled with Vomiting when they are ill of the Plague. An admirable Way of Reasoning: and as Admiration begat Philosophy, so Dr. _Mead_’s Philosophy cannot fail of begetting Admiration: For if the Stomach must needs be the first Place affected by the Plague, and the Doctor is gone over to _Van Helmont_, cannot he convey it thither down by the Nose, or even through the Mouth, without infecting the Spittle.

Dr. _Mead_ is grosly out in his Observation, for the Symptoms of the _Heart_, our _Strength_ at least, being affected, are previous to his supposed _Nausea_ and Vomiting; so that he not only ought _to make no Question_, but to be sure that the _Blood is also more immediately affected_; as the Multitude of Physicians besides _Van Helmont_ and him have always believed: But I find his Fancy lies much in odd Conceits. I know a very honest Man, and a good Observer in Physick, who has fallen into this very Error in explaining this Symptom of _Vomiting_; but every Body will acknowledge that his Philosophy is no where the best: And when this Symptom is truly explained, we shall find that it is a Symptom of a _Malignant Fever_, as well as of the Plague, without any manner of Irritation, or of any other Hurt of that Nature, in the Stomach. And therefore as this Way of conveying the Plague, is a Supposition grounded upon no manner of Observation (as the Doctor argues in this Paragraph) so I think there is no need to have recourse to it.

On the other Hand, it might be demonstrated, from the Nature of the Plague, that it is never, or very rarely, communicated from one Person to another. At present we will content our selves, to evince this Truth by a Demonstration of another kind, which is from Observation, or _à posteriori_, and I will borrow it too from Mr. _Graunt_, in his Observations on the Bills of Mortality. In his Observations on the [4]Plague of 1636: He says it lasted 12 Years, in eight whereof there died 2000 _per Annum_ one with another, and never under 800. The which shews, _That the Contagion of the Plague depends more upon the _DISPOSITION_ of the Air, than upon the _EFFLUVIA_ from the Bodies of Men_. Which also we prove by the sudden jumps which the Plague hath made, leaping in one Week from 118 to 927; and back again, from 993 to 258; and from thence again, the very next Week, to 852. The which Effects must surely be rather attributed to _Change_ of the _Air_, than of the _Constitutions_ of _Mens Bodies_, otherwise than as this depends upon that.

[Footnote 4: Page 70.]

And therefore as this very common Opinion, about the _Plague_ of _Pestilence_ passing from one Body into another, is not supported by any good Reason, far less by the _Suppositions_ and _Innuendo’s_ of Dr. _Mead_; and is now contrary to the best Observation, most duly and properly made, we may not doubt to declare, that it very rarely, and perhaps never, proceeds that Way.

The _Third_ Way Contagion is spread, is, _by Goods transported from infected Places_. But the Reason of this Fact seems to surmount his Understanding, and no wonder, for it has already puzzled all other Philosophers and Physicians, insomuch, that it has driven them into absurd Notions of _Maggots_, against all Observation. But, before a Philosopher would spend his Time about this Difficulty, he should be sure his Fact is indisputably true, for thereby he may save himself much Trouble and Babling, about a Matter that is false in Fact. However, this Difficulty may have blunted the Edge of every other Genius, he makes no doubt to conquer it, and account for it to the World, as he now does in the following Words: _If, as we have conjectured, the Matter of Contagion be an active Substance, perhaps in the nature of a Salt, generated chiefly from the Corruption of a Human Body, it is not hard to conceive how this may be lodged and preserv’d in soft porous Bodies, which are kept pressed close together._

Dr. _Mead_ has the readiest Way of getting rid of a Difficulty, of any Author, tho’ I cannot say it is always the most informing and perswasive. No Man that understands these Terms, _a Salt_, what it is to be _soft_ and _porous_, dares keep back his Assent to a Proof _grounded upon such manifest Observations_, as _Conjectures_, _Perhaps’s_, and _May-bee’s_; all which are far more ingenious than _Kircher_’s Maggots-Eggs. However bold this Argument may be, yet if any one will deny his Matter of _Contagion_ to be an active Substance; or, that it is a Salt; or, that it rather affects a _soft_ Bed than one that is _hard_, this _Third_, and last _propagating Cause_, may prove to be no manner of Cause; and all the World, Merchants especially, cry out against their Merchandize serving _Quarantine_.

Could Dr. _Mead_ bring all his ordinary Vouchers, I cannot say how far he might have gone in commanding a Submission from a great Number of Men to this Article: And therefore if any Person, or Persons, wants fuller Conviction, let him repair to the _Coffee-Houses_, where they shall have the Affidavits of ten Physicians, fifteen Apothecaries, and five Surgeons; and I’ll answer for it, eight in ten shall go, _from _Batson_’s especially_, fully satisfied with the Truth of the Premises. But can it be imagined this cunning Doctor would have expos’d his Character, in this Kind of Argument, to Men of Learning and Virtue. But here his drooping Spirits revert, and his _Humility_ and _Modesty_ vanish, having at this Stage got rid of the Necessity of Reasoning, the rest of this inimitable Work being to be carry’d on by Banter and Assertion; whereby let us take Measure of the Faith and Credulity of the good People of _England_; for if this passes, _Transubstantiation may be the next Article he will propose to you_; if it does not, the Doctor and his Book are discovered at the same Time.

Now we are prepared for all Dr. _Mead_’s _Absurdities_, _Wit_ and _Banter_, the first Thing he presents us with, _how long a Time Perfumes hold their Scent, if wrapt up in proper Coverings_; and we must remark, _That the strongest of those, like the Matter we are treating of (are mostly animal _Juices_)_ as Musk, Civet, _&c._ (if there be any more.) And the Substances that keep them the best, are those which receive and communicate the Plague, as _Furs_, _Feathers_, _Silk_, _Hair_, _Wool_, _Cotton_, _Flax_, &c. _the greatest part of which are likewise of the animal Kind_. If the _Pestilence_ is now a _Scent_, yet surely it is a Noisome one; and if it can be kept, like _Musk_, in its proper Covering, fourty Days will never deliver us from our fears of it. But all this is only to amuse us with another new Conceit the Doctor would entertain us with, that the Matter of the Plague is an _animal Juice_; but pray, good Doctor, of what Animal? This is not only ridiculous, but overthrows every Opinion of Physicians that ever was broached about it. But not to baulk his Wit, this Perfume of the Plague, like Musk, is best kept in animal Substances; (_Attraction_ would have preceded very decently, for a more proper Introduction) but is Musk, commonly kept in Furs or Cotton; if in the last, what Animal is it that yields us Cotton? As for _Civet_ it is no runaway Merchandize. It is therefore very obvious, that Men are now passing a Review of their Credulity before Dr. _Mead_ and the World. But there is another quaint Observation that must not be neglected, which is, That of all the mentioned Plague-Keepers, Three of them are animal Substances, and but Two of them of the vegetable Kind. Mighty fine! and well order’d: But if we turn to another Page of his [5]Book, we may find this useful Observation contradicted: _But the greatest Danger from Goods_, is from _Cotton_, _Hemp_, and _Flax_; _Paper_, or _Books_ (Paper Books surely, or else their covering will keep them upon an Equality in ballancing Accompts) _Silk_, _Linnen_, _Wool_, _Feathers_, _Hair_, and _Skins_. In this Account, the vegetable and animal Plague-Keepers are equal in Number.

[Footnote 5: Page 24.]

What Purposes does this Conceit serve? Why, only to support another Conceit, _viz._ That animal Substances most vigorously attract animal Effluvia, or that animal Effluvia run furiously into the Embraces of animal Substances; which we see by his fine Experiments, is a mere Fancy. As for _Musk_, _Cotton_ secures it the fastest from running away; nor do we find that _Feathers_, _Silk_ or _Wool_, are ever put upon that Service. But supposing every Thing true, and nothing whimsical, that has been now advanced by the Doctor, we might have expected a further Discovery; how these Perfumes come to desire their being beded, cherished, or fomented in soft animal Substances: Is it in Abhorrence of Annihilation, or by the Love they bear to one another? Or are they kept together, as the celebrated _Jonathan Wild_ keeps a Felon? In short, is it by _Sympathy_ or _Antipathy_? For if we are rightly instructed in these Matters, _these Remarks alone may lead us into_ great and useful Practices; for if they are skilfully employ’d, they may, perhaps, as I conjecture, keep the Plague at bay, by being strung up, like Pirates, at High Water Mark.

For as dull as these Conceits may appear to be; such as never dropp’d before from any Man in his Senses; yet our Author, who has hitherto shewn himself Blind in every kind of Argument, is now become so Sharp-sighted of a sudden, when you are to take his Word for it, that he boldly asserts, That this _Remark alone_ (of Sympathy and Antipathy) _may serve to lead us a little into the true Nature of Contagion_. What! this Nature of Contagion, that is still unknown, after all Dr. _Mead_’s Endeavours; nay, _Sweats_ and _Labours_, to be drawn at length from Trifles that bear no Relation to Contagion.

There is no Accounting for this Attempt upon Mankind: The Doctor, I doubt not, has often made Trial, how far their good Nature could carry their Belief: but this obtruding on _Scholars_, and _Physicians_ too, is no less exposing Physick than Physicians. Such Credulity is the very Reverse of the Incredulity our _Saviour_ complains of, and no less Marvellous. It is indeed Marvellous, how People were Unbelievers after the greatest Evidence of Reason and Miracle: Yet we cannot forbear admiring, if People should swallow all this Trifle and Contradiction, against all Sense and Reason. We are, indeed, at a loss to explain this lazy Credulity; and therefore we must have Recourse to the general _Infection_, that has wrought so strong Delusion, of late Years, all over _Europe_; when we find Men have become wonderfully Credulous, even to _Infatuation_. Upon this Supposition a very tolerable good Account may be given of the mentioned Attempts, for fathoming the Credulity of Men, let that be found to be ever so deep. If we hove our Lead in the _South Sea_, we could sound to an hundred Fathom, and bring up yellow Sand upon the Lead. Some Doctors have often sounded fifty Fathom for yellow Sand; and Doctor _Anodyne Necklace_ almost as deep for the same. The _South Sea_ Pilots have now run us a-ground, notwithstanding the Depth of Water; and Men begin to recover their Senses by the _Surprize_, _Terriculamenta_ being often found useful to Children: And, I hope, now they are awake, they will never hereafter subject either their _Lives_ or _Fortunes_ to _Directors_ of any kind.

But as we are, at present, got into the Metaphors of Trade and Navigation, it has been no small Omission, in every kind of Director, that they have lately forgot the Genius of _England_; of its being a Country of Merchants. Had Dr. _Mead_ remember’d the Place of his Education, he might likewise have saved himself much Labour in explaining a groundless _Phænomenon_, and spoke more Truth. Was not Dr. _Mead_ bred, if not born, within the Smoak of _Black Wall_ and _Wapping_, where both _Church_ and _Conventicle_ have long been a safe Retreat to foreign Goods, that were not to stand the awful View of a _Custom House_ Officer? Yet, in all that Time, and ever since, there have not appeared any Degrees of a Plague. Have not Merchandize been brought from many Parts of _Turkey_, all which have very deservedly an ill Name for the _Pestilence_, that very commonly rages among them. And how comes it to pass, That during this constant, and uninterrupted Commerce, when _soft_ and _porous_ Goods, the proper _Fomes_, have been brought from _Smyrna_, _Scanderoon_, _Aleppo_, _Constantinople_, and other Parts, the Pestilence has never taken a Journey hither, in all Appearance, those Fifty five Years? In all that Time _Turkey_ Goods have not served a Quarantine, nor visited any other _Lazaretto_’s, besides the Companies Cellars; a certain Proof that Goods very seldom, or ever, bring a Plague into a Country; and oftner find it there than propagate it.

It is very remarkable, That our Commerce with _Swedeland_, _Poland_, and other Parts of those Eastern Countries, has been very considerable, when Plagues have been raging among the mentioned People; and yet we have not found any Attempts from this silent Enemy on this our happy Island. Nay, we must more especially observe, that in the Year 1708 and 1709, a most destructive Pestilence made great Waste in _Dantzig_; and, that there were some Hundreds of _British_ Ships bound up in Ice, the whole Winter through; yet we had no other Visit from it, than the supposed fag End of it, by the _Dunkirk_ Fever; which happen’d four Years after the former had expir’d. And therefore this Opinion, of a Pestilence being preserved, and convey’d to distant Places in Goods, as a _Fomes_, is not sufficiently supported; a particular Care ought to be taken to suppress such ill-grounded Notions, so prejudicial and hurtful to the People, and Trade of an Island Country.

The Account Dr. _Hodges_ gives us of the Behaviour of the People of _London_, after they returned to Town in Winter 1665, is an undeniable Experiment against a Pestilence being propagated from a _Fomes_, and almost from one Body to another. He tells us[6], _The Houses which before were full of the Dead, were now again inhabited by the Living; and the Shops, which had been most part of the Year shut up, were again opened, and the People again chearfully went about their wonted Affairs of Trade and Employ; and even _what is almost beyond belief_, those Citizens, who were before afraid, even of their Friends and Relations, would, without fear, venture into the Houses and Rooms where infected Persons had a little before breathed their Last: Nay, such Comforts did inspire the languishing People, and such Confidence, that many went into the _BEDS_, where Persons had died, _EVEN BEFORE THEY WERE COLD_, or cleansed from the _STENCH_ of the _DISEASE_._ I would gladly know of Dr. _Mead_, if this, and the mentioned Histories, are Experiments that come home to the Purpose. In this Account of Dr. _Hodges_, there is no want of a _Nest_ or _Fomes_, for here is _Wool_, _Linnen_, _Silk_, and, perhaps, even treacherous _Cotton_ it self, the most secure Plague-Keeper of all the rest; yet no further Contagion appeared, but Men eagerly pursued their Business, and thought only how to _repair the past Mortality_, and that with more than ordinary Success, as Dr. _Hodges_ tells us in this Place, and his Relation is fully confirm’d by the Bills of Mortality.

[Footnote 6: Page 27. _Trans._]

It is now very manifest, that Dr. _Mead_ has not given any tolerable, or probable Account of his _propagating_ Causes; and that every Thing he has offer’d, in his own Way, is a _Corruption_ of what has been said by many Physicians. Moreover, he does not yet seem to understand Matters of Propagation, for he makes his Causes propagate by themselves, contrary to the common and known Methods of Nature. In this he is not only unnatural, but I am afraid, that this his Method must be very _defective_, tho’ it carries his peculiar mark of Excellency, _in differing from the Methods taken in former Times among us, and from what they commonly do Abroad_. For formerly here in _England_, and the People abroad, thought it necessary that the _Seeds_ of the Plague should, like other Seeds, have a proper _Matrice_ to receive them, to cherish them, and to rear them up for their proper and peculiar Uses, consonant to their Nature. They could not see how a Plague could more thrive out of its proper Ground, than a Grain of _Wheat_, or the Seed of an _Apple_. So that it was incumbent on Dr. _Mead_, to have shewn the _Disposition_ that may be in every Man to receive, and entertain the Plague, and with all the Variety in which it palpably affects them. For a Plague has often laid its devouring Hands on _Children_ and _Young Men_, when it has spared the _Old_; and, on the contrary, it has proved fatal to _Age_, when Youth has been excused: Nor has a Pestilence that afflicted Men hurt _Women_. At other Times Men and Women of all Ages have felt its Strokes promiscuously, and some have conversed boldly among the Sick of the Plague with Safety, while others are quickly punished for their Rashness.

It was very remarkable, that there was not a _British_ Subject, that wintered in _Dantzig_ in that hard Frost, and Time of Pestilence, received any Hurt, while Thousands of the Natives fell on their Right Hand, and Ten Thousands on their Left: This happen’d in the Year 1713. But it is recorded by [7]_Utenhovius_, that in a cruel Plague that raged in _Copenhagen_, all Strangers, _English_, _Dutch_, _Germans_, were not affected with it, when at the same Time it made Havock among the Inhabitants; yet those Foreigners went freely every where among the infected People, and into the infected Houses.

[Footnote 7: Peregrinat. _Eccles. Anglicanæ_, cap. IV.]