Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber’s notes:

The text of this e-book has been preserved as in the original, including archaic and inconsistent spellings (although the archaic 'long s' has been replaced with an ordinary 's'), but numerous presumed typographic errors have been corrected silently. They are listed at the end of this transcription. Footnotes have been numbered consecutively and repositioned below the relevant paragraph. As many of them are exceptionally long they have been indented to differentiate them from the body text. Italic text is denoted by _underscores_, and a caret (^) indicates that the following character is superscripted in the original, e.g. N^o.

A

TREATISE

ON THE

PLAGUE

AND

YELLOW FEVER.

_With an APPENDIX, containing_

HISTORIES OF THE PLAGUE AT ATHENS IN THE TIME OF
THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR; AT CONSTANTINOPLE IN
THE TIME OF JUSTINIAN; AT LONDON IN 1665;
AT MARSEILLES IN 1720; &c.

By JAMES TYTLER,
Compiler of the Medical Part of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

Let every one, Physician or not, freely declare his own sentiments
about it; let him assign any credible account of its rise, or the
causes strong enough, in his opinion, to introduce so terrible a scene.

THUCYDIDES.

‘Twas all the business then
To tend the sick, and in their turns to die,
In heaps they fell.

ARMSTRONG.

_Published according to Act of Congress._

_SALEM_:

PRINTED BY JOSHUA CUSHING, FOR
B. B. MACANULTY.

1799.

CONTENTS.

PART FIRST.

_Of the_ Asiatic _or_ True _Plague_.

SECTION I. Page

_Of the Plague in general.--Inquiry into the Antiquity of the
Distemper.--Of the Plagues mentioned in the Old Testament.--
History of several remarkable Plagues which, at various times,
have desolated the world._ 1

SECTION II.

_Of the Countries where the Plague is supposed to originate.--
The Influence of Climate in producing Diseases.--And of the Moral
Conduct of the Human Race in producing and influencing the same._ 21

SECTION III.

_Of Disease in general.--The nature of the Plague as a Disease
considered.--Of Contagion.--Whether the Plague is Contagious or
not.--Medical History of the Distemper.--Inquiry into its
Immediate Causes, and whether an approaching Plague is indicated
by any visible Signs._ 74

SECTION IV.

_Of the best Methods of Preventing the Plague._ 302

SECTION V.

_Of the Cure of the Plague._ 347

PART SECOND.

_Of the Yellow Fever._

SECTION I.

_History of the Yellow Fever._ 371

SECTION II.

_Symptoms of the Yellow Fever, as described by various authors.
--Comparison between them and those of the Plague, with an
inquiry into the Causes.--History of the Distemper as it has
appeared in various parts of the United States since the year
1793.--A discussion of the question Whether the Yellow Fever
is Contagious or not._ 382

SECTION III.

_Methods of Prevention and Cure._ 507