Chapter IX: Section VIII: Of Preservation from a Pestilence (2)

FROM this Condition of Blood, this great and wonderful Man goes on to shew, through the whole Course of his Propositions, that the coagulated Part, which he commonly distinguishes by the Name of _Lentor_, does accumulate in the capillary Vessels until their Endeavours of Restitution, as in all Elastick Bodies, are greater than the protruding Force, when by the Arteries Re-action upon it, the _Lentor_ is shook, dislodged, and washed away into the Veins, and ordinary Course of Circulation, there continuing its Progress till it is either fitted for some Secretion and Evacuation, or again lodged in the Capillaries, to bring on a new Paroxysm.

THIS unequable Fluxility of the Blood arises from two general Causes, either from such Means as diminish its Motion, or from the Mixture of such Particles, as cannot only of themselves be reduced by the digestive Powers into homogeneous Dispositions therewith; or as have a Faculty to put in Fusion some Parts of the Mass, and leave the other thicker than before; these are particularly enumerated, and their Ways of Operation distinctly demonstrated by _Bellini_.

CONFORMABLE to this Change in the Blood, which is the common Promptuary of all the other animal Fluids, every Thing separated from it hath some correspondent Affections; and the nervous Fluid in particular, which is separated from a Mass so unequally fluid, cannot but in it self have some Parts too fine, and others too gross, besides the Inequalities in the Times and Quantities of its Separation; from all which the same Author accounts for those Affections, termed nervous, which are the _Concomitants_ of Fevers: And in the Prosecution hereof he frequently takes Occasion to speak of this Fluid to be thin, sharp, hot, fiery, dry, _&c._ as the saline and rigid Parts in its Composition are by the Distemper more or less subtilized, or more or less defrauded of its humid Parts by Exhalation.

FURTHERMORE, in this great Disorder of the Constitution, and inordinate Hurry and Colluctation of the Fluids, sometimes the Solids are maintained in their Contractions and Motions, until the Particles either introduced from Abroad, or generated in the Body, which cannot be assimulated into homogeneous Qualities, are thrown out of the Course of Circulation by the natural Discharges, by Transpiration, or by Abcesces; and the animal Fluids restored to their natural State. But when Matters are brought to this pass, it happens that the very Means of saving one Person, may prove the Destruction of many others; because what is thus critically thrown off by one, hath a Faculty of exciting the like Disorders in the Fluids of another, when it is insinuated into them; as a very small Quantity of some fermenting Substances will communicate its Efficacies a very great Way, and put very great Parcels of Fluid into the like Agitation. And this is the Way by which a malignant Fever comes to be infectious, and a _Pestilence_ changes into a _Contagion_; as _Bellini_ more largely explains it in his XXVIII_th Proposition_ of Fevers; from the whole of which it is manifest, as Dr. _Mead_ hath expressed it in his fifth _Essay of Poisons_, that _the Effects of the +one+ are the Cause and Beginning of the +other+_.

TO bring then this nearer to the Matter under Examination, the Plague which is described in the foregoing Pages, was strictly and properly a _Contagion_, and by all Accounts of the best Authority, That which hath made such vast Devastations in some Parts of _France_, and now continues to rage amongst them, to the great Terror of their Neighbours, is also of the same Kind; and was brought to them in Merchandize, and by a Ship’s Crew, who were sick of a pestilential Disease all their Voyage Home from some Parts of _Turkey_; in neither of these there being any Manner of Fault chargeable upon the Air, or to any other Causes before enumerated in producing a _Pestilence_.

THE Symptoms of That now Abroad are reported by the best Physicians amongst them to be _sudden Pains in the Head_, _great Loathing at Stomach_, _Reaching to Vomit_, _Consternation_, _wild Looks_, _trembling Voice_, _Coldness in the extreme Parts_, _low unequal Pulse_, _Paleness_, _Delirium_, _Convulsions_, _Carbuncles_, _Buboes_, _livid Vesications_, _purple Spots_, _and Hemorrhages_; _the last are certain Forerunners of Death_. All which, more or less, are the constant Attendants of all pestilential Fevers.

BECAUSE then there is such a vast Difference between a _Pestilence_ arising from assignable Causes in the Air, _&c._ and a _Pestilence_ from a _Contagion_, as to the preservative Means especially against them; and that what we are now in most Apprehension of, is of the latter Kind; it most concerns us to be well acquainted with the Manner of Infection, as far as we can reason about Agents so extreamly minute and subtle. How all other _Antecedents_ to a _Pestilence_ exert themselves in their Influences over the animal OEconomy, _Bellini_ has brought even to a Demonstration; but as to a _Contagion_, he says little; which therefore, as introductory to some following Remarks, we shall here insert.

‘As this Coagulation and Fusion may go on so far as to set at
Liberty, and perspire through the Surface of the Body, or with
the Breath in Respiration, many noxious Particles, which may be
so subtil and active, as to enter the cutaneous Pores of other
Persons, or mix with that Air which they draw in Respiration,
and when got into the Body, be able to make the same Change in
the Blood, both as to its Coagulation and Fusion; hence it comes
that such a Fever proves _contagious_, which is an inseparable
Requisite to a _pestilential_ Fever.

‘But this is not only thus brought about; but also the
dissolved, and dispersed Particles may longer adhere to some
inanimate Bodies than others, as to Woollen and Linen Cloaths,
Papers, _&c._ and these Particles may, by the Steam of a living
Body, or by the Means of any other Heat, be put into Motion, so
as to breath out of those Lodgments, where they quietly resided,
and obtain so much Liberty, and Action on all sides, as will
carry them into the cutaneous Pores of any Persons within their
Reach, and infect them; and on this Account a _Pestilence_ may
be brought from very distant Countries, lying a long Time in
such Manner concealed, and then suddenly breaking out; with many
other Circumstances of like Nature.

‘BUT if these subtile and active Particles be of that Nature,
that they can penetrate the Pores of other Animals, and occasion
a like Coagulation of their Blood, not only Men, but Brutes
also, will be seized with a _Pestilence_; but this does not
always very necessarily happen; because the Blood of Animals is
different from humane Blood, so that although these Particles
are supposed to get into it, it does not therefore necessarily
follow that they must vitiate it, any more than will _Aqua
Regia_ dissolve all kinds of Metals; but yet Brutes of all
kinds, or some of them only, will be seized equally with Men,
when this subtile and active Ferment, which penetrates the
Surface, is of that Nature, as will taint the Blood of other
Animals with those _pestilential_ Requisites.

‘AS this kind of Contagion then can easily proceed from an
infected Person at a great Distance, as often as the noxious
Particles can reach another Person, and give that Degree of
Coagulation and Fusion, as is necessary to a _Pestilence_; the
more aggravated then will be this Calamity, and more easily
spread, when a healthful Person is near to one already infected;
and yet much more worse, if it is in Contact with those Parts,
which more plentifully, and with a greater _Impetus_, breath out
infected Steams, as if the Air arising from the Mouth and Lungs,
which must be extreamly hot, or the Perspiration of a Carbuncle
when it is greatly inflamed; for in this Case the exhaling
Particles will be in their greatest Activity when nearest the
recipient Body, and likewise more dense, that is, more numerous,
and consequently of greatest Efficacy.

‘BUT it is not every one that is seized with a _Pestilence_ from
Contagion, by Means of Steams exhaling from any particular Parts
of the Body; but only when these Steams, and the Air it self,
hath joined with, and interspersed through it Particles of
vitiated Faculties; and then this Kind of Fever will easily be
communicated, and necessarily ensue, not only on Account of what
gets into the Body with the inspired Air, but because also the
whole Body is surrounded with such an Infection, wherein the
noxious Particles floating about on all Sides, will endeavour to
penetrate through the Pores upon the Surface, and get that Way
into the Blood; for although the Skin is thicker upon the
Surface of the Body, than that Pellicle covering the Vessels in
the Lungs, and for that Reason it requires longer Time for such
Particles to get that Way into the Blood, and the Habit of the
Body, yet it is no Argument that they cannot get that Way at
all, and be admitted into the Juices.’

BY this we are able to gather, that when a Fever from some Faults in the _Non-naturals_ comes to the highest Degree of Malignity, it makes such a Change in the animal Fluids as renders some Parts of them poisonous, and capable of exciting the like fermentative Motions, wheresoever they come into a proper Subject, without any of those procatarctic Causes as gave Rise to the Fever of the first Person seized.

OF what Nature then this Poison is we may conjecture from the Circumstances of its Production. All animal Bodies do more or less generate a Salt; or rather, in Proportion to the Strength of their digestive Powers, do they more or less subtilize the saline Particles which are taken in with their necessary Nourishment. This is abundantly manifest in the Distillation of many animal Substances, which plentifully yield a volatile Salt. But indeed in the Composition of this, in a natural and healthful State, there is joined a very subtilized Sulphur or Oil; which contempers and softens it into a Fitness for the Purposes of the OEconomy: And under this Modification, it becomes the Principle of Vitality, and the chief Instrument of animal Action; not unlike what this is conceived to be, is the common _Sal volatile oleosum_, or any other Spirits drawn from odorous Bodies.

IT matters not what Names Persons please to distinguish this by, in an humane Body; but that somewhat of this Kind is naturally the Produce of its digestive Powers, in the highest Degree of Comminution or Subtilization they are capable of bringing any Thing to, no one will question; and that those minute Threads or Fibres, of which the whole is a Composition, are animated by it; or, to speak more strictly, owe to it their Elasticity and motive Faculties.

IT is hoped, that no one who hath been accustomed to Reasonings of this Nature, will find any Difficulty in conceiving such a Difference of Principles, so finely blended together, as here suggested of a saline, and an oleous, or humid Substance: And whosoever reads _Bellini_, or any others who have wrote in the same Manner, will find continual Regard had to those two Principles, even in the animal Spirits; for without it there can be no Notion had of what is so frequently mentioned, and which by their Effects we find must be true of them, that they are too dry, hot, active, fiery, and the like; or too humid, vapid, sluggish, viscid, _&c._ And it is further equally manifest, that in Proportion to the greater or lesser Degrees of Motion in those Fluids, from whence this subtile Composition is generated, and the Concussions of those fine Threads into which it is separated, will it err in one or other of the foregoing Extremes.

IN a Fever therefore, where the animal Fluids are in the highest Degree of Agitation, and from Causes too of a coagulating Nature, it ought to be no Wonder that even this subtile Union should be in some Measure dissolved, and the softer and more humid Parts broke and exhaled, so much as to leave the more rigid and saline ones not only unfit to lubricate those Elastick Threads, wherein they reside, but sharp and pointed enough to stimulate, contract, and harden them into all Loss of Motion.

AS the Destruction likewise of this _Nexus_ in so subtile a Fluid leaves the saline Parts capable of injuring even that OEconomy which gave it Existence, so may its Volatility favour its Escape in a great Measure by Transpiration, so as to affect also other Persons within its Reach; and These with all other Particles of like Nature, which, by an Over-Agitation, and fermentative Motion of the animal Fluids, are separated from the softer and lubricating Compositions with which they were naturally joined, and which by their Volatility transpire and float in the Air, we take to be the true _contagious Miasmata_, that convey, propagate, and continue a _Pestilence_, after the Cause first raising it ceases.

NOR will this seem strange to any who are accustomed to reflect, how many Substances are changeable into a poisonous Nature, which before were not only inoffensive, but useful to the Purposes of Life. Some Minerals, whose saline Parts in their Production are naturally blended with good Quantities of Sulphur, are harmless, and good _Alterants_; but when by any Means those Principles are separated, the saline Parts become strong _Emeticks_ and _Catharticks_, even to the Degree of a Poison. Who does not know that _Antimony_ may be taken crude in large Quantities without any manifest Effect, but that the Chymist can take somewhat from it, that in few Grains shall operate beyond the Power of a strong Constitution to bear?

THOSE Arrows of Death therefore that make such dreadful Slaughter in a _Contagion_, are the animal Salts of infected Persons, set loose from their natural Combinations, and subtilized into the highest Degree of Volatility, by the Agitation and fermentative Motion of a Fever. And the Buboes, Carbuncles, _&c._ in a _Pestilence_, are nothing else but Collections of Particles, or Coalescences, formed in such irregular Motions, and thrown out of the Course of Circulation by those necessary Laws whereby every Thing is rejected, that cannot be assimilated into homogeneous and like Properties: The Matter of which Excretions is likewise of so subtile and fermenting a Nature, that if introduced into the Fluids of another well Person, it excites there the same Motion and Disorder.

THIS change of animal Substances into a Poison, is too common a Truth to want any Attestation to those who have been but indifferently conversant in Natural Enquiries. And it is greatly to our Purpose, that even those Creatures, which are generally deemed poisonous, do require certain Degrees of Heat, and animal Action, to exalt their Juices to so high a Degree of Volatility, as to put on the Properties of a Poison, and act as such upon other living Creatures; insomuch that it is not only a common Observation that these Animals lose their poisonous Nature when remov’d into Climes colder than what is natural to them, but that also they are not so venomous in their own Climates, at the cooler Seasons of the Year, as in the most sultry.

BUT the Case of a mad Dog entirely comes up to that of a _Contagion_ from a Fever. When the hotter Seasons of the Year throw that Creature into Madness, it is manifestly from a great Increase of Velocity and Motion in the Fluids, which brings on what is equivalent to a _Delirium_, by an additional _Impetus_ upon the Brain, and for want of so much Room through the Skin for Transpiration, as in other Animals; the chief Evacuation is by the Glands of the Mouth: That is, in short, the Dog hath a Fever, which breaks the natural Texture of the Juices, disengages and subtilizes the more rigid or saline Parts, and critically discharges them by the most convenient Outlets the Creature is furnished with, changed into such a poisonous Nature, that wheresoever they come to mix with the Juices of others, they excite in them the like inordinate and mischievous Alterations.

THIS Theory likewise might be further illustrated by many Instances from inanimated Fluids, which are capable of being put into Fermentation by a very small Portion of Matter, and which shall by such an Agitation from new Particles, or _Moleculæ_ having Properties of communicating the same Effects to another quiescent Fluid; not much unlike what we see in the Communication and Propagation of Fire, which is excited and carried on in proper Subjects from the minutest Beginnings, and increasing also in its own Force as it spreads.

WHEN a Person therefore falls into a Fever from any epidemic, or other more private Cause, and that Fever rises to such a Degree of Malignity as is always supposed in a _Pestilence_, as far as any _Effluvia_ do exhale from that Person, so far may he be said to have round him a contagious and poisonous _Atmosphere_; because there transpires from him such Particles as will excite in other Animals of like Constitution, the same fermentative Motions as those to which they owe their own Origin.

ALTHOUGH therefore, in the Beginning of epidemical Diseases, and during the Subsistence of their common Causes, particular Regard is to be had to these Causes, and the Manner whereby they affect the People; yet when it is come to this pass, that the Fever it self is productive of a Poison, or somewhat intirely disagreeable, that communicates the same Impressions upon others, without any Concurrence of the first Cause, then such a Fever is truly a Pestilence by Contagion, and all precautionary Regards ought peculiarly to be suited, to prevent its Infection or Spreading; either by keeping the well Subjects clear from the sick, or destroying the Influence of the poisonous Exhalations, or fortifying the sound against it. But to these Ends, it is necessary to have some tolerable Notion of the Manner how these secret Destroyers are continued, and conveyed to great Distances.

THE most common Manner of conveying and spreading a Contagion, observable in the preceding historical Collections, and which also is the Case of our present Apprehensions from Abroad, is by infected Persons, and Merchandize; it being attested by too many Facts to admit of the least Doubt, that even Packs and Bails of Goods carry the poisonous _Miasmata_ about with them; and from the Nature that we here suppose this Poison to be of, nothing is more likely to preserve it than animal Substances, as Hair, Wool, Leather, Skins, _&c._ because the very Manner of its Production, and the Nature of its Origin, seems to give it a greater Affinity with such Substances than any other, and to dispose it to rest therein until by Warmth, or any other Means of Dislodgement, it is put into Motion, and raised again into the ambient Air.

TO know how these _Effluvia_ come to have such fatal Influences over Mankind, and to understand their Progression from the first Seizure, to the End of that Distemper they gave Birth to, requires too many _Precognita_ from the Mechanism of the animal OEconomy, and the Agency of such minute Instruments, to be particular about, in the Compass here limited. And a Reader who is duly fitted for such Enquiries, will find the utmost Satisfaction from _Bellini_ of _Fevers_, and Dr. _Mead_ of _Poisons_; how the Blood, and all the Secretions therefrom, are affected, and changed by such Causes.

WE shall here therefore only suggest some Hints concerning the Suddenness of their Seizure, and their Energy of Operation. And this will not be difficult to conceive by those who are acquainted with that universal Property of Matter, whereby it is more or less determined to draw, and unite again, when separated into Parcels, according to the greater or lesser Affinities of their Figures, Solidities, and Quantities of Motion. As nothing therefore in Nature is supposed to bear a greater Similitude, than in this Case the natural animal Salts do with what hath been subtilized and set on Float in the Air, it can be no Wonder that when the Ambient is sated with the latter, they readily join with the former, as soon as they are received into the Body. And this is supported by the Authority even of _Bellini_, who allows, in the Beginning of his XXVIII_th Proposition_, that the _Antecedents_ to a pestilential Fever do sometimes vitiate the Spirits immediately in Quality.

AS the ordinary Course therefore of producing Fevers is by disordering the Blood first in Quality, with such Mixtures as coagulate it, that is, as make it unequally fluid, some Parts being thinner, and others thicker than natural; so by these extreamly subtile _Effluvia_, in a _Contagion_, the Spirits are destroyed in their natural Texture, and the more rigid and saline Parts, by a Combination with the venomous _Spicula_, changed into Dispositions destructive of that Constitution they were before destined to preserve. Whosoever then considers what must be the necessary Consequences of such an immediate Depravation and Change in that Fluid, which is an absolute Requisite to all animal Action, will not at all wonder at any of the Affections which are commonly enumerated as the _Concomitants_ of a Contagion; and a tolerable Acquaintance with the OEconomy, by the Help especially of the Authors before referred to on _Fevers_ and _Poisons_, will enable any one to account severally for their Production.

THIS then being the Case of a _Contagion_, that a Person having a Fever, critically throws off poisonous _Effluvia_, which were generated during such irregular Motions of the animal Fluids, insomuch as to diffuse for some Distance round, what will infect other Persons within their reach; and that so many have got this Infection, that no Part of the Air, for some Tract of the Country together, is free from them; the poisonous _Atmospheres_, if they may be so termed, of the infected, extending and mixing into one universal, common _Contagion_; this, I say, being the Case here under Examination, why any at all survive, must be owing either to the Goodness of their Constitution, or to proper Means to defend against its Infection, or to conquer it when received; which naturally brings us to consider these two important Ends, of _Preservation_ and _Cure_.

AS for the _First_ of these, the common Experience, of meaner People being mostly carried off, admonishes all to live upon as nutritive and generous a Diet as can be procured; and such Things as not only yeild due Nourishment, but Plenty of Spirits, and what easily perspires. For there are many Things of good Nourishment, that are not easily perspired; such as all light and viscid Substances, as Pork, Fish, and the like, which therefore are very apt to go into Fermentation, and generate Corruption; in short, whatever even the common People have Notions of, as apt to bring Surfeits, ought to be avoided, and such Means of Subsistance complied with, as generate a warm, rich Blood; and in Proportion to the Ways of Living at other Times, should every one, except those who accustom themselves to Riot and Excess, indulge himself at a higher Rate.

ROASTED Meats are by all preferred to boiled, and if Pickles and high Sauces are ever to be encouraged, it is on these Occasions; and _Garlick_, _Shallot_, _Onions_, &c. are extreamly serviceable, and preferable to the hot, dry, spicy Seasonings, because their pungent Volatility seems naturally covered with a Softness, or balsamick Quality, more agreeable to the Nature of animal Spirits. To which Purpose it is very remarkable, that in the Histories of many Pestilences, Notice is frequently taken of the Exemption of _Jews_, and People who deal much in such Fare, from Infection. And it is customary with some experienced Sailors, to lay in great Stores of such Things against their Arrival at infected, and unwholsome Countries.

THERE is also a very strict Regard to be had to the Firmness and Strength of the Solids, which is greatly assisted by moderate Exercises, but carefully avoiding too much, and every Thing that occasions too great an Expence of Spirits at a Time, and particularly by over-Warmth. But to this Purpose I cannot conceive any Thing more serviceable than frequent Immersion in cold Water, so that the Times of staying in are as short as possible, the Good received hereby being chiefly in the first Shudder and Constriction; and it is particularly to be remembred, tho’ the preceding Author hath omitted it, that Watermen, and others, whose Occasions imployed them much upon the River, and in the Cold, suffered least in the late Sickness. The Use of _Vinegar_, and other _Acids_, are also of Service for the like Intention.

YET besides the Helps for this End from common Diet, and Way of Living, Assistances may also be had from Medicinal Preservatives, such as those commonly termed _Antidotes_, consisting of spicy volatile Particles, which afford a natural _Pabulum_ to the animal Spirits, and by carrying into the whole Habit a fine subtle Oil, the better secure them against those Contagions _Spicula_ which are in Readiness to mix with them; and for this Purpose, we are furnished with a most elegant and useful Medicine, since many Authors of Note have wrote on this Subject, which is the _Sal Volatile Oleosum_, if it be well loaded with the essential Oils of Spicy Ingredients; although indeed with some Constitutions more fetid Compositions are very suitable; but they all agree in carrying into the Habit somewhat that both recruits, and guards the Spirits against any foreign Mixture, or from unnatural Separations of their saline and humid Parts. And to the same End, in robust Constitutions, who have been accustomed to fare hard, the Spirit or Oil of Turpentine frequently drank in small Doses might be a great Means to preserve the poorer Sort from Infection.

BECAUSE former Writers on these Occasions have given _Formulæ_ of things of this kind, much more prolix and inelegant than the present Practice is accustomed to, it may not perhaps be unacceptable to give two or three Examples more conformable to the latter. But because I judge such general Prescriptions rather of Prejudice than Service, when they come hastily and inadvertently to be required by the common People, I cannot but think it much better to leave such to be ordered and regulated according to particular Persons Constitutions and Exigencies.

AS to those preservative Means which a Government only have the Power to provide, they must likewise be left to those who have that Power, but, with due Submission to such, it is conceived that removing infected Persons is a much easier and safer Care, than shutting them up in great Towns: And it was certainly the greatest Error committed in the late _Plague_ here, as our Author above grievously complains, to confine the sick and well together.

IT seems a Point yet in Dispute, whether great Fires at such a Time are of Service or hurtful, which to me is somewhat wonderful, because whosoever considers the Necessity for Air in Respiration, and by what Quality it becomes of such real Service to the Preservation of Life, cannot think such Fires proper, because they destroy that very Property in the Air, which is demonstrable by innumerable Experiments. As to the Dissipation indeed of pestilential Vapours, or their Destruction in any Manner, they undoubtedly may do Service, but then that ought to be done at vast Distances only from where People inhabit. And what Fires common Occasions require at such Times, are rather to be made with such Substances as abound with, and yield a nitrous Salt, because that seems to be the chief Support of the vital Property in the Air, and such are our common Coals; for every one knows how much more all Wood-Fires are suffocating, and give a Languor, and Flatness to the Spirits.

PRESERVATIVE Fumigations are largely talked of by all, on these Occasions, and they with good Reason deserve to be practised, because while the Poison is on Float in the Air, it may undoubtedly be entangled so as to lose its Power of acting as such; but then for this Purpose such Things ought to be used as exhale very subtile Sulphurs, as the spicy Drugs and Gums. And on this Account I suspect Wood-Fires to be bad, because they raise into the Air a very gross and viscid Humidity, which is not only very unfit to lay hold on, and unite with, the extreamly minute Agents that are to be provided against, but also carry into the Lungs with the Air in Respiration, such Particles, as dispose of themselves to Viscidities, and such Changes in the Blood, as are the Production of the worst Fevers, without any other co-operating Cause; for the Fire only forces out that Moisture, which, while a Tree is in its Growth, naturally perspires from it; and how an Air so impregnated is like to be of Service against a Pestilence, any one may soon be a Judge, who considers those Kinds of Fevers which are most commonly epidemical in wood-land Countries.

SUCH Drugs however as are from a vegetable Production, and abound with subtile, volatile Parts, are of Service to be exhaled into the Air this way, both by their Fitness to join with, and cover those venomous _Spicula_ that are on float; and to mix with the Animal Fluids by Respiration and Insinuation into the Pores, whereby they convey, as it were, an _Antidote_, wheresoever the Poison is able to penetrate, and which grosser Vapours can by no means do.

OF this kind are chiefly _Storax_, _Benjamin_, _Frankincense_, and all the Aromatick Roots and Woods; and amongst them all, I cannot think the Smell of _Tar_, _Pitch_, &c. is inferior in any Respects, where its Scent is not particularly offensive. And these Things should be burnt at such Distances of Time from each other, that the Air may be always sensibly impregnated with them.

BUT as some have sad Apprehensions from the Air being still, and as it were stagnant at such Times, and not without good Reason, as it favours the Collection of poisonous _Effluvia_, and aggravates an Infection; for the Prevention of which, it is proposed at certain Intervals to fire off great Guns, and the like: I cannot but imagine, that for this End, it would be much more effectual to let off small Parcels of the common _Pulvis Fulminans_, in such Openings of a large Town, as Squares and Market-Places; for whosoever hath been accustomed to any Experiments with this Composition, must have perceived a much greater Shock given to the Air by its Explosion, than by the largest Pieces of Ordnance; insomuch that if any Objection can lie against the Practice of this in _London_, should there be Occasion, it is the crasie Condition of the City Buildings, which perhaps may not well stand its Shocks, were they to be made with good Quantities of it at a time.

THE Matter likewise of this Composition in some Measure bespeaks its Usefulness for these Purposes on other Accounts, besides its _Elastick_ Force, because it diffuses into the Air great Quantities of that nitrous Salt, which is known to add much to its Serviceableness in Life: And whosoever considers how much cheaper this is to be procured, and how much easier practised than the firing off Guns, especially in the Middle of great Towns, cannot but be desirous to try it, in Case of such Calamities as are now with too much Reason feared; it may not therefore be unacceptable to give its Composition here.

℞ _Sal. Nitri Partes +iij.+ Sal. Tartari P. +ij.+ Sulphuris P. +j.+ optime misceantur in Mortario, parùm tepefacto, & servetur ad usuum vase bene obturato._

THIS is order’d in a warm Mortar, and to be kept close, because the _Salt of Tartar_ is apt to imbibe a Moisture from the Air, which hinders its Explosion. A Drachm or two put in as close a Heap as possible upon an Iron Plate over any Fire, will in a little Time go off with a Report and Concussion beyond that of any Gun whatsoever; so that in a calm Season, and an infected Air, great Services may undoubtedly be had from its frequent Practice.

AS to the curative Part in such a terrible Visitation, it cannot be expected that Rules can be given suitable to every one’s Case but by such as attend upon them; and the most that can be in general laid down to this Purpose, may be collected from the preceding Treatise of Dr. _Hodges_. Although as to the Choice of _Alexipharmicks_, they are certainly best that are most subtile, and capable of being carried by the Course of Circulation into the finest Recesses of the Constitution, whereinto it is manifest the extream Subtilty of the pestilential Poison is capable to enter: And amongst all of this Class, I take _Camphire_ to be much the more preferable; which therefore I would propose not only to be repeated in proper Doses to an infected Person, till a due _Crisis_ is obtained, but also now and then given to those who are well, by way of Prevention. And because some Persons, notwithstanding what has been before said, will be pleased with some general _Formulæ_ to these Purposes, the following are offered to be complied with, or varied, at every one’s Discretion, who is a Judge of such Matters.

℞ _Conserv. Rutæ, Flor. Rorismar. ana +℥ j.+ Species diambræ sine odoratis +ʒ j.+ Balsam. è Mechâ +ʒ [ss.]+ pulv. Croci angl. +℈ j.+ Syr. Balsam. q. s. ut F. Electuarium, cujus sum. quantitatem N. M. omni mane, & horâ somni superbibendo Haustulum Vini albi Lisbonensis, vel Hispanici, tepefacti._ To the Night Dose of this, may be added sometimes 2 or 3 Grains of _Camphire_, especially if a Person feels any Indisposition that requires a breathing Sweat, some may perhaps like the following better.

℞ _Cons. Rutæ +℥ j.+ Mithrid. +℥ [ss.]+ Pulv. Fol. Scordij +ʒ j.+ rad. Contrayerv. Serpentarij_ +Virgin.+ _ana +ʒ [ss.]+ Sal. volat. Viperar. Croci angl. ana +℈ j.+ Syr. Balsam. q. s. ut f. Elect. sumend. codem modo._

Or,

℞ _Confect. +Tracastorij+ sine Melle, Mithrid. ana +℥ [ss.]+ Boli veri, Terræ +Japon.+ ana +ʒ j.+ Castor. Salis succin. Croci angl. ana +℈ j.+ Confect. Alkerm. sine odoratis q. s. ut F. Electuarium ad usum prædictum, precipue h. somni._

BESIDES a precautionary Use of these with proper Diluters, and under the Direction of those who are Judges; some Security may possibly be had from odoriferous Substances to smell to, especially at a Time of conversing with the infected; for which Purpose I know of nothing so grateful and efficacious, as the _Volatile Sal Armoniac_, well impregnated with the essential Oils of Aromatick Ingredients, and as it is to be procured dry, to be kept in small Bottles, from a careful Distillation of the common _Sal Volatile Oleosum_. But if in any Cases more fetid Substances are preferable, Compositions may be easily made of such from _Rue_, _Featherfew_, _Galbanum_, _Assa-fætida_, and the like; for these, with some Persons agree better than more grateful Scents.

FREQUENTLY to dissolve in the Mouth the following _Lozenges_, or something like them, I also imagine may be of Service; especially to those who are conversant in infected Places.

℞ _Boli veri opt. +℥ j.+ Terræ Japon. +ʒ ij.+ Coral. rub. Margarit. opt. levigat. Flor. Benz. ana +ʒ j. [ss.]+ ol. Cinnam. gut. +xij.+ Sacchar. albis. +lib. j.+ Mucelag. Gum. Tragacanth. in aq. Rosar. Dam. q. s. form. in Troch. ad usum prædictum._ For those who like it, may be added some _Ambergrease_; enough to give a light Scent of it.

PRESERVATORY Evacuations of all kinds are much disputed in these Cases, and not worth our particular Regard in this Place; for thus much is plain to all who are competent Judges in such Matters, that but very few Circumstances can justifie them; because every Evacuation, unless that of Perspiration, gives more Liberty for any Thing noxious without, to insinuate into the Pores, as there is made thereby less Resistance to its Admission; not to say any Thing of the Danger in such a Practice, by lessening at the same Time the Quantities of Spirits and Strength, which cannot but be mischievous: And particularly ought all Persons at such Times to avoid too lax a Temper of Body; for which Purpose, these preservatory Means just hinted at, mostly tend to astringe the Bowels, and increase Perspiration.

_FINIS._

A Table of the Funerals

IN THE

Several Parishes within the Bills of Mortality
of the City of _LONDON_,
For the Year 1665.

_No. of Funerals_|_Plag._

ST. Albans Woodstreet | 200 | 121
St. Alhallows Barkin | 514 | 330
St. Alhallows Bread-street | 35 | 16
St. Alhallows the Great | 455 | 426
St. Alhallows Honey-lane | 10 | 5
St. Alhallows the Less | 239 | 175
St. Alhallows Lombardstreet | 90 | 62
St. Alhallows Staining | 185 | 112
St. Alhallows the Wall | 500 | 356
St. Alphage | 271 | 115
St. Andrew Hubbard | 71 | 25
St. Andrew Undershaft | 274 | 189
St. Andrew Wardrobe | 476 | 308
St. Anne Aldersgate | 282 | 197
St. Anne Black-Friers | 652 | 467
St. Antholins | 58 | 35
St. Austins | 43 | 20
St. Bartholomew Exchange | 73 | 51
St. Bennet Finch | 47 | 22
St. Bennet Grace-church | 57 | 41
St. Bennet Pauls Wharf | 355 | 172
St. Bennet Sherehog | 11 | 1
St. Botolph Billinsgate | 83 | 50
Christ Church | 653 | 467
St. Christophers | 60 | 47
St. Clements Eastcheap | 38 | 20
St. Dionys Back-church | 78 | 27
St. Dunstans in the East | 265 | 150
St. Edmunds Lombardstreet | 70 | 36
St. Ethelborough | 195 | 106
St. Faiths | 104 | 70
St. Fosters | 144 | 105
St. Gabriel Fenchurch | 69 | 39
St. George Botolph-lane | 41 | 27
St. Gregories by Pauls | 376 | 232
St. Helens | 108 | 75
St. James Dukes-place | 262 | 190
St. James Garlickhith | 189 | 118
St. John Baptist Walbrook | 138 | 83
St. John Evangelist | 9 |
St. John Zachary | 85 | 54
St. Katherine Coleman-street| 299 | 213
St. Katherine Cree-church | 335 | 201
St. Lawrence Jewry | 94 | 48
St. Lawrence Pountney | 214 | 140
St. Leonard Eastcheap | 42 | 27
St. Leonard Foster-lane | 335 | 255
St. Magnus | 103 | 30
St. Margaret Lothbury | 100 | 66
St. Margaret Moses | 38 | 25
St. Margaret New Fishstreet | 114 | 66
St. Margaret Pattons | 49 | 24
Sr. Mary Abchurch | 99 | 54
St. Mary Aldermanbury | 181 | 109
St. Mary Aldermary | 105 | 75
St. Mary-le-Bow | 64 | 36
St. Mary Bothaw | 55 | 30
St. Mary Colechurch | 17 | 6
St. Mary Hill | 94 | 64
St. Mary Mounthaw | 56 | 37
St. Mary Somerset | 342 | 262
St. Mary Stainings | 47 | 27
St. Mary Woolchurch | 65 | 33
St. Mary Woolnoth | 75 | 38
St. Martins Ironmonger-lane | 21 | 11
St. Martins Ludgate | 196 | 128
St. Martins Orgars | 110 | 71
St. Martins Outwich | 60 | 34
St. Martins Vintrey | 417 | 349
St. Matthew Friday-street | 24 | 6
St. Maudlins Milk-street | 44 | 22
St. Maudlins Old Fish-street| 176 | 121
St. Michael Bassishaw | 253 | 164
St. Michael Cornhil | 104 | 52
St. Michael Crooked-lane | 179 | 133
St. Michael Queenhith | 203 | 122
St. Michael Quern | 44 | 18
St. Michael Royal | 152 | 116
St. Michael Woodstreet | 122 | 62
St. Mildred Bread-street | 59 | 26
St. Mildred Poultrey | 68 | 46
St. Nicholas Acons | 46 | 28
St. Nicholas Coleabby | 125 | 91
St. Nicholas Olaves | 90 | 62
St. Olaves Hart-street | 237 | 160
St. Olaves Jewry | 54 | 32
St. Olaves Silver-street | 250 | 132
St. Pancras Soper-lane | 30 | 15
St. Olaves Jewry | 54 | 32
St. Olaves Silver-street | 250 | 132
St. Pancras Soper-lane | 30 | 15
St. Peters Cheap | 61 | 35
St. Peters Cornhil | 136 | 76
St. Peters Pauls Wharf | 114 | 86
St. Peters Poor | 79 | 47
St. Stephens Coleman-street | 560 | 391
St. Stephens Walbrook | 34 | 17
St. Swithins | 93 | 56
St. Thomas Apostle | 163 | 110
Trinity Parish | 115 | 79

_In the 97 Parishes within the Walls,
Total of the Funerals 15207; Died of the Plague 9887._

* * * * *

St. Andrew Holborn |3958 |3103
St. Bartholomew the Great | 493 | 344
St. Bartholomew the Less | 193 | 139
St. Bridget |2111 |1427
Bridewel Precinct | 230 | 179
St. Botolph Aldersgate | 997 | 755
St. Botolph Aldgate |4926 |4051
St. Botolph Bishopsgate |3464 |2500
St. Dunstans in the West | 958 | 665
St. George Southwark |1613 |1260
St. Giles Cripplegate |8069 |4838
St. Olaves Southwark |4793 |2785
St. Saviours Southwark |4235 |3446
St. Sepulchres |4509 |2746
St. Thomas Southwark | 475 | 371
Trinity Minories | 168 | 123
At the Pesthouse | 159 | 156

_In the 16 Parishes without the Walls,
Total of the Funerals 41351; Died of the Plague 28888._

* * * * *

St. Giles in the Fields |4457 |3216
Hackney Parish | 232 | 132
St. James Clerkenwel |1863 |1377
St. Katherines Tower | 956 | 601
Lambeth Parish | 798 | 537
St. Leonards Shoreditch |2669 |1949
St. Magdalens Bermondsey |1943 |1363
St. Mary Newington |1272 |1004
St. Mary Islington | 696 | 593
St. Mary Whitechappel |4766 |3855
Rotherhith Parish | 304 | 210
Stepney Parish |8598 |6583

_In the 12 Parishes in the outer Parts,
Total of the Funerals 28554; Died of the Plague 21420._

* * * * *

St. Clements Danes |1969 |1319
St. Paul Covent Garden | 408 | 261
St. Martins in the Fields |4804 |2883
St. Mary Savoy | 303 | 198
St. Margarets Westminster |4710 |3742
Whereof at the Pesthouse |–––– | 156

_In the 5 Parishes of the City and Liberties of +Westminster+,
Total of the Funerals 12194; Died of the Plague 8403._

* * * * *

Total of the Funerals —— 97306.

Died of the Plague —— 68596.

_Besides many, of which no Account was given by the
Parish-Clerks, and who were privately Buried._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] De Bello Punico.

[2] Lib. 10. Cap. 3.

[3] Tom. 1. memorab. Cent. 10.

[4] In his _Scholium_ upon Obs. 9. Lib. 6.

[5] De Peste, Lib. 6.

[6] De Peste, Lib. 1.

[7] Præf. de Imperio Solis ac Lunæ, _&c._

[8] Lib. 8. Segon. 70.

[9] Nat. Hist. of _Oxfordshire_, Chap. 2.

[10] De Medicin. _Egypt_. Lib. 1. Cap. 15.

[11] Hist. _India_ and _Brasil_.

[12] De Bello _Judaico_, Lib. 7. Cap. 26.

[13] De Bello _Civili_, Lib. 2.

[14] Lib. 6. Obser. 9. and 26.

[15] Lib 1. de differ. Feb. Cap. 3. & de cibis mali & boni succi.

[16] Comment, in Lib. de natalium, text. 4.

[17] Dissert. de Peste.

[18] De montis Vesuvii Incendio.

[19] Hist. 73.

[20] Nat. Hist. of _Oxfordshire_, Chap. 3. Par. 31.

[21] Nat. Hist. Cap. 18. Sect. 4.

[22] No. 3.

[23] _Vid._ Epidem. _and_ de Aere, Aquis & Locis.

[24] _Vid._ Comment. in Epidem. _Hippocrates_.

[25] Hist. _Ind. & Brasil_.

[26] Probl. 1.

[27] Lib. 1. Decad. 4.

[28] Lib. 15. Cap. 10.

[29] Epidem. Lib. 2 & 3. de Aere Aquis & Locis. Aph. 11. Sect. 3.

[30] Comment. in Epidem. Lib. 3. de differ. Febr. Cap. 4. de Temperam Lib. 1. Cap. 4.

[31] Vid. _Purchas_ Pilgr. Lib. 6. C. 1. as also _Joan_. _Les +Hist.+ Afric._ Lib. 1. Cap. 1.

[32] Medicina Statica. Sect. 2. Aph. 18.

[33] Ibid. Aph. 6, and 29.

[34] Lib. 3. Epidem.

[35] De Abdit. Lib. 2. Cap. 12.

[36] Ibid.

[37] De Febr. purp. Cap. 2.

[38] Lib. 5. decad.

[39] De Antris Lethiferis, Art. 2.

[40] Loco cit.

[41] Ovid. Met. m. lib. 7.

[42] De morbis contag. lib. 2. cap. 7.

[43] De Bello Illyrico.

[44] De Medic. _Egypt._

TRANSCRIBER’S AMENDMENTS

Transcriber’s Note: The Table of Contents was added. Blank pages have been deleted. The illustrations may have been moved. The first illustration, consisting of part of the original title page, has been added. Footnotes have been moved to immediately above this note. When the author’s preference could be determined, we have rendered consistent on a per-word-pair basis the hyphenation or spacing of such pairs when repeated in the same grammatical context. The publisher’s inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have been corrected. The gesperrt letter spacing has been deleted.

The following list indicates any additional changes. The page number represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been moved.

Page Change

4 whose Spirits being manifesty[manifestly] sunk
30 from the most irrefrigable[irrefragable] Authority,
67 and their Restautation[Restauration], Confirmation, and Vigour,
67 in a very particlar[particular] Manner,
91 Coats, being endewed[endowed] with an exquisite Sense,
107 and by whose colliquitive[colliquative] Quality
108 Some cotinued[continued] in a Profusion of Sweat
116 its Origin was from the Arteral[Arterial] and Venal Fluids;
117 where they of themselves chrvstallize,[chrystallize] by Means
127 and killed her in a[delete] about three Days
133 as the Cofiguration[Configuration] of Vessels
138 went no further than the Skin, would oftentimes shough[slough] off
146 the Case if likewise noc[not] much better when
147 likewise brings on a dangerous Colliquitation[Colliquatation],
152 Chapter VI[VII]
152 a pestilential Infection is extreamely[extreamly] dangerous,
156 for if the other Sumptoms[Symptoms] do not remit
158 _Meadow-sweet_, _Butter-Burr[Butterbur]_, &c.
168 Decoctions may coveniently[conveniently] be made
176 _An Alexiteral[Alexiterial] Water._
186 their doing eirther[either] Injury to themselves
190 which some, however, liked better to ule[use]
204 studiously avoided all Points of Con-[delete] Controversy;
205 admoniihes[admonishes] us to use all possible Endeavours
208 agitate the poisonous _Mismata[Miasmata]_,
212 rosatæ [dram] ij. trcchisc[trochisc]. de rhabarb.
215 in colaturâ ad lentum B. calorenz[calorem] dissolve Aloës
249 continued cold Rains, as likewise does _Fermelius[Fernelius]_
252 that is taken Notice off[of] by Physicians
260 small Quantity of some fermening[fermenting] Substances
275 that the _Antecedents_ to a pestilenlential[pestilential] Fever
283 this kind are cheifly[chiefly] _Storax_
283 the like: I cannot but imagin[imagine], that for this
288 is plain to all who who[delete] are competent Judges

* * * * *