Part 11
BUT before I proceed further, Gratitude obliges me to do Justice to the Vertues of _Sack_, as it deservedly is ranked amongst the principal Antidotes, whether it be drank by it self, or impregnated with _Wormwood_, _Angelica_, &c. for I have never yet met with any Thing so agreeable to the Nerves and Spirits in all my Experience. That which is best is middle-aged, neat, fine, bright, racy, and of a Walnut Flavour; and it is certainly true, that during the late fatal Times, both the infected and the well found vast Benefit from it, unless they who used it too intemperately; many indeed medicated it with various _Alexipharmick Simples_.
IT remains that we now say somewhat concerning the Use of _Tobacco_, whose Vertues for this Purpose are extreamly cried up by _Diemebrooeck_, and some others; but whether we regard the narcotick Quality of this _American_ Henbane; or the poisonous Oil which exhales from it in Smoaking; or that prodigious Discharge of Spittle which it occasions, and which Nature wants for many other important Occasions; or, lastly, the Exercise it gives to the Lungs in drawing it; besides the Aptitude of the pestilential Poison to be taken down along with it, and the Irksomeness of its Scent; I must confess my self at Uncertainties about it; though as to my self, I am its professed Enemy, and was accustomed to supply its Place as an Antidote with _Sack_.
WE now then come to external Remedies, amongst which _Amulets_, and Characters, demand the first Notice: It must indeed be granted, that it is no new Custom or Contrivance to hang these Charms, made various Ways, about many Parts of the Body, but what Vertues these Things have, is worth some Enquiry.
IT hath obtained with many, that Nature, or the Soul of the World, hath impressed upon some certain Bodies a very diffusive magnetick Vertue; whereupon some _Adepts_ have ascribed to many of these Bodies a Faculty of expelling Poisons. Others conceit, that both artificial and natural Poisons do, by a certain Sympathy, when outwardly applied, draw away every Thing that is detrimental to the Constitution; after the Manner as _Amber_ attracks Straws, and (as they report of the _Snake-stone_) imbibe its Venom: Some others again contrive _Amulets_ of Spices, to invigorate Nature, and support her against the Enemy.
I think it proper to give my Opinion of this Matter; with Submission therefore to these great Men, I cannot easily come into a Belief of any Advantages to be had from this Practice; for most of the Efforts ascribed to them, is rather from the Power of Imagination, or owing to some manifest Property. Furthermore, it hath religiously obtained amongst many People, that Diseases are to be driven away by painting Characters upon the Body; but it is strongly to be suspected, that this Practice hath been altogether owing to _Jugglers_, and Persons addicted to infernal Arts; for what medicinal Virtue can there be in a Figure? It seems to me, that because the _Sacred Mysteries_ of our _Art_ were anciently described by _Hieroglyphicks_, the Populace, who were ignorant of their Significations, mistook them for Charms against a _Plague_, and other grievous Diseases, and they propagated their Delusion down to Posterity.
THERE are innumerable Preparations of these Charms or _Amulets_ to be met with in the Writings of several Physicians; but I shall take it to have sufficiently discharged my Duty here, to mention those only which were used by our own Country People; the principal of which was a _Walnut_ filled with _Mercury_; for it is certain that many did promise to themselves Security from the Dignity of this Metal, which to them seemed to be the Parent of all others; others again expected great Matters from its Volatility, notwithstanding it was thus inclosed, thinking that the natural Heat of the Body would draw such Vertues, as would secure them from the Infection. But much the greater Number were supplied with arsenical _Amulets_, from Empiricks and Mountebanks; these were compounded of _Arsenick_ alone, with Wax; or had many other Things added thereunto, appropriated to the Disease. One of the chief Forms of this Kind is the following:
℞ _Dictamni cret. pulv. +℈ vij.+ pulv. sinapi +ʒ [ss.]+ Benzoin. +ʒ ij.+ Arsenici veri +ʒ iij.+ ol. cinnam. gutt. +vij.+ ceræ opt. +ʒ v.+ cum mucilag. gum. tragacanth. aceto rosac. parat. F. pasta, unde placentæ multiformes depsaticæ parentur, ad pondus +ʒ ij.+ vel +iij.+ cordis regioni admovendæ, linteo serico priùs involutæ._ For it commonly prevailed amongst the Populace, that _Arsenick_, by some magnetick Vertue, draws away all Poison, especially that of a Pestilence. The wearing also of a dried Toad was a mighty Secret with some.
BUT to give my Thoughts concerning the good or bad Effects of these appended Remedies, I do not remember any one who had their Expectations answered thereby; but many confiding too much in them, neglected other more necessary Means of Preservation, and brought themselves into great Hazard of their Lives by wearing them; a remarkable Instance of which I met with in an elderly Lawyer, who upon wearing an Arsenical _Amulet_ upon his Breast, had a pestilential Carbuncle rise under it, the third Day after which he died. In some others large Vesications appeared, not from any Venom drawn out, but from the Caustick Quality of the Charm it self, and the Communication of its own Poison to the Part: What Madness was it, in such a terrible Calamity, to put the Hazard of Life upon such idle and ridiculous Experiments?
BUT to pass over such Baubles, and proceed to Means that are conformable to Reason, and the Rules of Medicine, _Issues_ are not to be forgot; for by these all kinds of Impurities are allowed to flow out along with the pestilential Poison, as through an open and ready Passage; and the more of these little Ulcers are made, the better, although their Largeness may answer as well as more in Number; that is, if they are big enough to hold 4, 6 or 8 Peas together. If any one hath a Mind for two Issues, let one be made in the left Arm, and the other in the opposite Leg. And as for the Usefulness of these, I can speak it of my own Experience, that whensoever I was most beset with pestilential Fumes, in the Course of my Business, I could then immediately perceive a shooting Pain in my Issue, and had a great deal of an ill conditioned Matter discharge from it; and this I always looked upon as a sure Warning to have timely recourse to _Alexipharmicks_.
GREAT Service was likewise found in the Preservation against the Pestilence, as well as in its curative Part, by the Application of _Blisters_, and keeping them open a good while.
HAVING thus come to a Conclusion, I think it not amiss to recite the Means which I used to preserve my self from the Infection, during the continual Course of my Business among the Sick.
AS soon as I rose in the Morning early, I took the Quantity of a Nutmeg of the _Antipestilential Electuary_; then after the Dispatch of private Concerns in my Family, I ventured into a large Room, where Crowds of Citizens used to be in waiting for me; and there I commonly spent two or three Hours, as in an Hospital, examining the several Conditions and Circumstances of all who came thither; some of which had Ulcers yet uncured, and others to be advised under the first Symptoms of Seizure; all which I endeavoured to dispatch, with all possible Care to their various Exigencies.
AS soon as this Crowd could be discharged, I judged it not proper to go abroad fasting, and therefore got my Breakfast: After which, till Dinner-time, I visited the Sick at their Houses; whereupon, entring their Houses, I immediately had burnt some proper Thing upon Coals, and also kept in my Mouth some Lozenges all the while I was examining them. But they are in a Mistake who report that Physicians used, on such Occasions, very hot Things, as _Myrrh_, _Zedoary_, _Angelica_, _Ginger_, &c. for many, deceived thereby, raised Inflammations upon their Tonsils, and greatly endangered their Lungs.
I further took Care not to go into the Rooms of the Sick when I sweated, or were short-breathed with Walking; and kept my Mind as composed as possible, being sufficiently warned by such, who had grievously suffered by Uneasiness in that Respect. After some Hours Visiting in this Manner, I returned Home. Before Dinner, I always drank a Glass of _Sack_, to warm the Stomach, refresh the Spirits, and dissipate any beginning Lodgment of the Infection. I chose Meats for my Table that yeilded an easie and generous Nourishment, roasted before boiled, and Pickles not only suitable to the Meats, but the Nature of the Distemper; (and indeed in this melancholy Time, the City greatly abounded with Variety of all good Things of that Nature) I seldom likewise rose from Dinner without drinking more Wine. After this, I had always many Persons came for Advice; and as soon as I could dispatch them, I again visited till Eight or Nine at Night, and then concluded the Evening at Home, by drinking to Cheerfulness of my old favourite Liquor, which encouraged Sleep, and an easie Breathing through the Pores all Night. But if in the Day-time I found the least Approaches of the Infection upon me, as by Giddiness, Loathing at Stomach, and Faintness, I immediately had Recourse to a Glass of this Wine, which easily drove these beginning Disorders away by Transpiration.
YET in the whole Course of the Infection, I found my self Ill but twice; but was soon again cleared of its Approaches by these Means, and the Help of such Antidotes as I kept always by me.
BUT to conclude, it may not be improper to take Notice, that the Citizens much accustomed themselves to certain Compositions for keeping off the Infection, by continual Smelling to them; the chief amongst which was the following.
℞ _Pulv. rad. angelicæ, summit. rorism. & lavendulæ cum floribus ana +ʒ ij.+ caryophyll. +ʒ iiij.+ labdæni puriss. Styracis ana +ʒ iij.+ omnibus præp. in commixtione adde ol. nucis mosch. per express. +ʒ j. [ss.]+ ol. ligni rhod. +℈ ij.+ camphoræ +ʒ [ss.]+ moschi +gr. viij.+ cum ceræ opt. p. s. F. massa._ Some likewise would smell to _Galbanum_, _Oil of Wormwood_, or _Rue_, as also the Oil or Spirit drawn from _Pitch_, and dropped upon Cotton, to be kept in a close Ivory Box. Yet I could not so much approve of these Things, as they were used; because they so much dilated the Pores of the olfactory Organs, as to give more Liberty for the pestilential _Miasmata_ to pass in along with them.
THE Purification of Houses was contrived to be done several Ways; but what I most approved of, was in placing a Chafing-dish in the Middle of a Room, or the Entries, or Windows, where proper Things were burnt, and exhaled all round. Quicklime was likewise thrown into the following Decoction.
℞ _Fol. Scordii, Angelicæ ana +M iij.+ summit. lauri, rutæ, lavendulæ ana +M j. [ss.]+ flor. rosar. pallid. sambuci ana +p. ij.+ calami aromat. +ʒ v.+ Caryophyll. Contus. +ʒ iij.+ F. decoctio in duabus p. aq. font. & tertiâ aceti rosac. vel Sambuc. consimiliter ac lagenæ, à mucore, & setu calcis extinctione mundantur, ita ut liquorem inditum amplius vitient, & corrumpant._ For as soon as the Lime is thrown in, it raises a very penetrating Steam, which seemed very likely to destroy the Efficacy of the pestilential _Miasmata_. For the same Purpose likewise were the following very judiciously contrived.
℞ _Salis petræ +lib. j.+ Sulphuris +℥ iij.+ benzoin. Styracis simul liquati. ana q. s. ut formentur s. a. Trochisc. deb. exiccandi._
_FINIS._
OF THE Different Causes OF PESTILENTIAL DISEASES, And how they become Contagious.
WITH REMARKS Upon the INFECTION now in _FRANCE_,
And the most probable Means to prevent its Spreading here.
By JOHN QUINCY, M. D.
_LONDON:_
Printed for _E. Bell_, at the _Cross Keys_ in _Cornhill_; and _J. Osborn_, at the _Oxford-Arms_ in _Lombard-street_, 1720.
OF THE
Different Causes
OF
_Pestilential Diseases_, &c.
THERE is hardly any one Subject more largely treated of by Physical Writers, than that of _Pestilential Diseases_; and the Reason of it I take to be, the Frequency in all Ages and Countries, of Alarms from such dreadful Destroyers; and the uncommon Impressions they are apt to make upon the Minds of those, whose Profession naturally leads them to enquire into their Causes. But in this it has fared as with all the other Branches of that noble Science. The Conjectures and Opinions of Persons have at all Times been too much influenced by the Philosophy in Vogue, insomuch that it is almost an endless as well as an unprofitable Task, to examine into them all: And as such an Enquiry is not consistent with the intended Brevity of these Pages, I shall pass them by, only just taking Notice of the most considerable Opinions, under which, most that has been advanced to any Purpose may be reduced.
ALL Authors upon this Subject, may be reduced under these two Sorts: Such as ascribe them to the immediate Wrath of Heaven, and account them as Punishments inflicted by the immediate Exertion of a Supernatural Power; and such as assign for their Origin some natural Cause.
ALTHOUGH too great a Regard cannot be had to the Author of our Beings, yet Care should likewise be taken, not to ascribe every Calamity to the immediate Exertion of the Almighty Power; for it seems much more worthy of the Divine Being so to order it, that from the Course of second or natural Causes, Punishments shall pursue Offenders, than to imagine the frequent Exertion of his Power in a Way supernatural to inflict such Punishments. But there is a great deal of Reason to suspect, that the Number of this Sect was very much increased by such, as either out of Ignorance in other Causes, or out of an affected Devotion, thought it their Interest to come into this Opinion, and pretend to do greater Cures by certain religious Performances, and their Intercession with Heaven, than was in the Power of Medicine, of which they knew but very little.
OF those that assign some natural Cause, there are several Opinions: Some ascribe them to astral Influences, to malign Conjunctions and Radiations of the Heavenly Bodies. We find, from the most remote Antiquity, not only _Pestilential Diseases_, but likewise a great many others, ascribed to the same Causes: But all the Reasonings about this Conjecture have been very obscure and perplexed until the present Age, when Sir _Isaac Newton_ first taught Men to think justly, and talk intelligibly about the Motions and Influences of those remote Bodies upon our _Atmosphere_: And upon his Theory Dr. _Mead_ has since further proceeded to determine their Efficacies upon humane Bodies. By which, as it does appear that they affect us no otherwise than as they occasion the several Variations of the Seasons, and different Constitutions of the Air, the Reader must be left to the Consideration of such Causes.
ANOTHER Cause is charged upon Steams and Exhalations from putrefying Bodies. There are Abundance of Instances to support this Opinion, that manifestly discover very fatal Effects from such Causes. As Battels are generally fought in Summer-Time, when by the Heat of the Season Things are most disposed to Putrefaction, so it has often been observed, that the Plague has appeared after great Slaughters of Men in Fight, as appears by undoubted Testimony from _Julius Alexandrinus_[1], _Diodorus Siculus_, and a great many others, too tedious to mention. _Ambrose Parrey_[2] gives a Relation of a Plague, that laid waste almost a whole Country, which had its Rise from the Stench of a great many human Carcases that were thrown into one Pit, and left Rotting uncover’d. _Joannes Wolfius_[3], _Forestus_[4], the above-mentioned _Parrey_[5], and _Agricola_[6], all take Notice of Plagues arising from the Stench of putrifying Fish that were thrown dead upon the Shores.
OTHER Steams of the same Efficacy frequently arise from the Putrefactions of stagnant Waters, and other Bodies, which, in some particular Constitutions of Air, are apt to corrupt and emit very offensive _Effluvia_. Dr. _Mead_[7] relates from _Diogenes Laertius_[8], that _Empedocles_ observed a pestilential Disease to afflict the _Salinuntij_, from the Putrefaction of a certain River; to remedy which, he contrived to have the Streams of two other neighbouring Rivers drained into it, which, by their Increase of the Current, with an additional Weight and Pressure of Water, brought the former to its usual Sweetness, and so put a Stop to the Plague.
TO this Purpose Dr. _Plot_[9] observes, the Reasons why _Oxford_ is now much more healthful than heretofore, to be the Enlargement of the City, whereby the Inhabitants, who are not proportionably increased, and not so close crowded together; and the Care of the Magistrates in keeping the Streets clear from Filth: For formerly (he says) they used to kill all Manner of Cattle within the Walls, and suffer their Dung and Offals to lie in the Streets. Moreover, about those Times the _Isis_ and _Cherwell_, thro’ the Carelessness of the Townsmen, being filled with Mud, and the Common-Shores by such Means stopped, did cause the Ascent of Malignant Vapours whenever there happened to be a Flood. But since that, by the Care and at the Charge of _Richard Fox_, Bishop of _Winchester_, in the Year 1517, those Rivers were cleansed, and more Trenches cut for the Water’s free Passage, the Town has continued in a very healthful Condition; and in a particular Manner so free from Pestilential Diseases, that the Sickness in 1665, which raged in most Parts of the Kingdom, never visited any Person there, although the Terms were there kept, and the Court and both Houses of Parliament did there reside.
TO this Cause, ’tis very probable, is owing the Frequency of the Plague at _Grand Cairo_ in _Egypt_, and in the Island of _Sardinia_, as _Pæusanias_ and others relate: Although indeed _Prosper Alpinus_[10] charges a great deal of the Cause of that at _Cairo_, upon their continual Commerce with such Nations as are seldom without such infectious Diseases. And for this Reason it is, that we find all those Countries, which most abound with Swamps and Standing-Waters, to be most unhealthful, especially in the hottest Seasons; except, as in several Parts of _Italy_, such Lakes have any Communication with the Sea, or some large Rivers. To this purpose _Piso_[11] frequently observes those Places to be most subject to such Calamities, where there are constant Heat and settled Calms, as such a Temperament of Air most disposes Bodies to Putrefaction and Corruption, as in St. _Thomas Island_, and _Guinea_: And, on the contrary, that notwithstanding the Intenseness of Heat, if the Fluids are but agitated by Winds, Tides, and Currents, there is little Danger of such Diseases; and the less still, the more regular and constant the Seasons are upon other Accounts: By which Means it is, that between the _Tropicks_, and even under the _Equator_, it is very healthful.
UNDER this Head it may not be improper to observe, that too scanty and mean a Diet, and Feeding upon unripened and unsound Fruits, are frequently charged with a Share in Mischiefs of this kind. _Josephus_[12] and _Julius Cæsar_[13], amongst Historians; _Forestus_,[14] and several other physical Writers, give Accounts of Plagues from the like Causes. _Galen_[15] is very positive in this Matter; and in one Place[16] accuses his great Master _Hippocrates_ with Neglecting too much the Consequence of a bad Diet, and ascribing some Mischiefs arising from thence to a bad Air. And upon this is grounded the common Opinion of a _Plague_’s following a _Famine_; in which Circumstances, the poorer sort, who feed meanest, generally suffer most, as it frequently happens in long Sieges, and Armies ill supplied with Provisions. Thus Travellers report, that _Surrat_ in the _East-Indies_ is seldom or never free from a Plague, which is ascribed to the mean Diet of the Natives, who are _Banians_, and feed on little else than Herbs, Water, Rice, and such like pitiful Fare; for it is observed, that the _Europeans_ who trade there, are in no Danger of being infected, because they feed well on Flesh, and drink Wine, which secures them against those malignant Diseases.
A Third Cause is ascribed to Mineral Eruptions and subterraneous Exhalations. _Pestilences_ from this Cause are more infrequent than from several others; because such Eruptions hardly ever happen but upon Earthquakes, or Breaking into the Bowels of the Earth by Mines, Pits, Wells, and the like; and then too, in Order to produce a _Pestilence_, it is necessary that whatsoever exhales and mixes with the ambient Air, must be of such a Nature, as to render it unrespirable; or to communicate by it such Particles to the Animal Juices as will pervert their natural Crasis, and disturb their due Secretions; which does not often happen, for there are frequent Shocks of the Earth from intestine Fermentations, which are not followed by any such Mischiefs, as they happen only from the Struggle of such Principles, as when they have got Vent, neither of themselves, or by any Thing emitted with them, are of that disagreeable Nature, as to give any Disturbance to the Animal OEconomy.
_CAROLUS de la Font_,[17] indeed, as well as several others, lays great Stress upon Causes of this kind, and charges _Pestilential Diseases_ chiefly to Mineral Exhalations of divers kinds; as _Arsenical_, _Mercurial_, _Sulphurous_, &c. which he imagines the ambient Air often to be overcharged with, either from the Heat of the Sun, Earthquakes, or subterraneous Fires. To all this, Persons of different Opinion object, the Infrequency of Plagues in _Calabria_, _Naples_, and several Parts of _Sicily_, where there are manifestly very great subterraneous Fires, such as occasion violent Earthquakes, and many furious and plentiful Eruptions of metallick and mineral Fumes. A very distinct Relation of which, from his own Knowledge, may be met with from Dr. _Bernard Connor_,[18] who has been very curious in his Enquiries hereinto.
BUT however Authors differ upon this Head, several very odd Relations are to be met with in History of malignant and deadly Sicknesses from these Causes. That Story is very strange which is related by _Ammianus Marcellinus_,[19] and taken Notice of by _Cardan_ and _Riolanus_, that a most grievous Pestilence broke out in _Seleucia_, which, from thence to _Parthia_, _Greece_, and _Italy_, spread it self thro’ a great part of the World, from the Opening an ancient Vault in the Temple of _Apollo_, and that it raged with so much Fury, as to sweep away a third part of the Inhabitants of those Countries it visited.
IT is needless to trouble the Reader with many Relations of the sudden and strange Effects of some Steams arising from Mines and Pits, which are generally termed by our Colliers _Damps_, because almost every Body has already been acquainted with such Accounts.