This disastrous pestilence, which proved, if possible, more fatal and
terrific than the cholera, made its first appearance in London, in 1480 or
1483, first showing itself in the army of Henry VII. on his landing at
Milford Haven. In London it only broke out a year or two after, and
visited that capital occasionally for upwards of forty years. It then
spread to Holland, Germany, Belgium, Flanders, France, Denmark, and
Norway, where it continued its ravages from 1525 to 1530; it then returned
to England, and was observed for the last time in 1551.
Dr. Caius calls it a pestilential fever of one day; and it prevailed, he
says, with a mighty slaughter, and the description of it was as tremendous
as that of the plague of Athens. Dr. Willis states that its malignity was
so extreme, that as soon as it entered a city it made a daily attack on
five or six hundred persons, of whom scarcely one in a hundred recovered.
This malignant fever ran its course in a single paroxysm; and the cold fit
and hot fit were equally fatal. If the patient was fortunate enough to
reach the sweating stage, he was in general saved. It commenced its attack
with a pain in the muscles of the neck, shoulders, legs, and arms, through
which a warm aura seemed to creep; after these symptoms a profuse
perspiration broke forth. The internal organs grew gradually hot and
burning, the pungent heat extending to the extremities; with an
intolerable thirst, sickness soon followed by jactitation, coma, and
delirium. At Shrewsbury it raged for seven months, and carried off upwards
of one thousand patients. The invasion of this terrific disorder was
generally preceded by a thick noisome fog, especially in Shropshire. A
dark cloud usually took the lead, and the distemper followed its course.
It is somewhat singular, but most fatal contagions have been ushered in,
both in ancient and modern times, by noxious fogs or mists, with clouds of
various insects, either bending their course in innumerable bodies,
covering vegetation, or falling in dead heaps upon the ground. The disease
was generally supposed to arise from inclement seasons and injured grain;
particularly wheat infested with the mildew or smut, or rye attacked with
the spur. It was observed by Dr. Willan, that the contemporary inhabitants
of Scotland and Wales, who fed on barley and oats, were not affected.
One of the most singular features of this malady was its only attacking
the English. Foreigners, and even the Scotch and Irish, in England, seemed
to be exempted from this scourge, which attacked the monarch himself, and
two Dukes of Suffolk, who sunk under its virulence. In Westminster the
number of daily deaths averaged one hundred and twenty. It may be easily
imagined that this special liability of Englishmen to contract the disease
was attributed to Divine wrath for their manifold offences; and we find
the following lines in Phemtophius:
Coelestia numina nobis
Nil sunt quam nugae, fabula, verba, jocus:
Inde fames nobis, pestes, Mars; denique fontem
Hinc etiam inclemens [Greek: idoonretos] habet,
Saevum, horrendum, atrox genus immedicabile morbi,
Nostrae perfidiae debitum.
Dr. Armstrong has also recorded this peculiar visitation in the following:
Some, sad at home, and, in the desert, some,
Abjur'd the fatal commerce of mankind.
In vain: where'er they fled, the Fates pursued.
Others, with hopes more specious, cross'd the main,
To seek protection in far distant skies;
But none they found. It seemed, the general air
From pole to pole, from Atlas to the East,
Was then at enmity with English blood;
For, but the race of England, all were safe
In foreign climes; nor did this Fury taste
The foreign blood which England then contained.
That the atmosphere was saturated by this disease was obvious from the
circumstance of vast numbers of birds falling dead, when, upon
examination, pestilential swellings were found under their wings. Schiller
attributed the disease to sideral influence. England, however, was not the
only country where the wrath of Heaven was considered as having fulminated
this scourge! and at Marburg it had such an effect, that it actually put
an end to the violent disputes between Luther and Zuingle concerning the
Eucharist, and which were on the eve of kindling a religious war.
A disease somewhat similar manifested itself in Picardy in 1773, having
first appeared at Hardivilliers, five leagues from Beauvais; but, instead
of terminating in a single day, it ran on to the third, fifth, and
seventh: a fever of the same description was also observed in Gascony.
But of all the maladies that affect cutaneous transpiration, _diapedesis_,
or sweating of blood, is the most singular; so much so, indeed, that its
existence has been doubted, although several well authenticated cases are
on record, both in the ancient and modern annals of medicine. It is
mentioned by Theophrastus and Aristotle, while Lucan thus describes it:
Sic omnia membra
Emisere simul rutilum pro sanguine virus.
Sanguis erant lacrymae; quacumque foramina novit
Humor, ab his largus manat cruor: ora redundant,
Et patulae nares; sudor rubet; omnia plenis
Membra fluunt venis: totum est pro vulnere corpus.
The detestable Charles IX. of France sunk under this disorder, thus
described by Mezeray: "La nature fit d'etranges efforts pendant les deux
dernieres semaines de la vie de ce Roi. Il s'agitait et se remuait sans
cesse; le sang lui rejalliait par les pores et par tous les conduits de
son corps. Apres avoir longtems souffert, il tomba dans une extreme
faiblesse et rendit l'ame." The same historian relates the case of a
governor of a town taken by storm, who was condemned to die, but was
seized with a profuse sweating of blood the moment he beheld the scaffold.
Lombard mentions a general who was affected in a similar manner on losing
a battle. The same writer tells us of a nun who was so terrified when
falling into the hands of a ruthless banditti, that blood oozed from every
pore. Henry ab Heer records the case of a man who not only laboured under
diapedesis, but small worms accompanied the bloody secretion.
In the Memoirs of the Society of Arts of Haarlem, we read of the case of a
sailor, who, falling down during a storm, was raised from the deck
streaming with blood. At first it was supposed that he had been wounded,
but, on close examination, the blood was found to flow from the surface of
the body. Fabricius de Hilden mentions a case that came under the
observation of his friend Sporlinus, a physician of Bale; the patient was
a child of twelve years of age, who never drank any thing but water:
having gone out into the fields to bring home his father's flocks, he
stopped upon the road, and contrary to habit, drank freely of white wine.
He shortly after was seized with fever. His gums first began to bleed, and
soon after an haemorrhage broke out from every part of the integuments, and
from the nose. On the eighth day of the malady he was in a state of
extreme debility, and the body was covered with livid and purple spots,
while every part from whence the blood had exuded was stopped with clots.
A case is also related of a widow of forty-five years of age, who had lost
her only son. She one day fancied that she beheld his apparition
beseeching her to relieve him from purgatory by her prayers, and by
fasting every Friday. The following Friday, in the month of August, a
perspiration tinged with blood broke out. For five successive Fridays the
same phenomenon appeared, when a confirmed diapedesis appeared. The blood
escaped from the upper part of the body, the back of the head, the
temples, the eyes, nose, the breast, and the tips of the fingers. The
disorder disappeared spontaneously on Friday the 8th of March of the
following year. This affection was evidently occasioned by superstitious
fears; and this appears the more probable from the periodicity of the
attacks. The first invasion of the disease might have been purely
accidental; but the regularity of its subsequent appearance on the stated
day of the vision may be attributed to the influence of apprehension.
Bartholinus mentions cases of bloody sweat taking place during vehement
terror and the agonies of torture.
The case of Catherine Merlin, of Chamberg, is well authenticated, and
worthy of being recorded. She was a woman of forty-six years of age,
strong and hale. She received a kick from a bullock in the epigastric
region, that was followed by vomiting of blood: this discharge having been
suddenly stopped by her medical attendants, the blood made its way through
the pores of various parts of her body, every limb being affected in turn.
The sanguineous discharge was invariably preceded by a prickly and itching
sensation; frequently this itching exudation proceeded from the scalp.
The discharge usually occurred twice in the twenty-four hours; and on
pressing the skin, the flow of blood could be accelerated and increased.
Dr. Fournier relates the case of a magistrate who was attacked with
diapedesis after any excitement, whether of a pleasurable or a painful
nature.
A singular idiosyncrasy was transmitted to her male children by an
American Female named Smith, occasioning a severe haemorrhage wherever the
skin was slightly pricked or scratched. This loss of blood would sometimes
continue for several days. Several of her sons sunk under the affection,
which was found at last to yield to the sulphate of soda. What is most
singular, all her daughters were exempted from this fearful
predisposition.
It is probable that this strange disorder arises from a violent commotion
of the nervous system, turning the streams of blood out of their natural
course, and forcing the red particles into the cutaneous excretories. A
mere relaxation of the fibres could not produce so powerful a revulsion.
It may also arise in cases of extreme debility in connexion with a thinner
condition of the blood.
Curious cases are recorded of a sandy sweat, in which the perspiration
becomes crystallized on the surface of the skin. Bartholinus, Schunig, and
Mollenbroek have related several cases of the kind. It is probable, as
Mason Good observes, that this morbid secretion may arise from an excess
of uric acid, translated from the kidneys to the skin; this sand is
generally of the same red colour as that of the renal secretions deposited
in a lateritious sediment.
Scented perspiration is another singular peculiarity. This odour,
frequently unpleasant, has also been known to shed an agreeable aroma,
compared to the perfume of violets, roses, and musk. This quality is
common in various animals; in the _Simia jacchus_, hedgehogs, hares,
serpents, and crocodiles. The _Viverra zibetha_ and _V. civetta_ yield
this odour abundantly; and it has been observed in a faint degree in our
domestic cat. Many insects exhale an agreeable odour; especially the
_Cerambix moschatus_, the _Apis fragrans_, the _Tipula mochifera_. The
_Cerambix suaveolens_ emits a delicious smell of roses, and the Petiolated
sphex a highly fragrant balsamic ether. In the Memoirs of the Queen of
Navarre, we read that Catherine de Medicis was a perfect nosegay; and
Cujacius and Lord Herbert of Cherbury were equally distinguished by the
suavity of their transpiration.
The general perspiration of every man seems to be of a peculiar nature.
Savages can distinguish their friends and foes by the scent. The boy born
deaf and dumb, whose history is related by Dugald Stewart, distinguished
persons by their odour; and the dealers in hair can ascertain by the smell
the nation to which the hair belongs.
The quantity of perspiration secreted by a well-grown adult weighing about
one hundred and forty-six pounds, is at the rate of twenty-eight ounces in
the twenty-four hours, sixteen ounces during the period usually allotted
to waking, and twelve ounces during sleep.[49] It is not so much increased
by moderate elevation of temperature as might be imagined; it appears
increased after meals and during sleep. While the skin thus secretes so
considerable a quantity of watery fluid, its powers of absorption are
wonderful, and are frequently resorted to for medicinal purposes. This
absorption evidently tends to assist in repairing the strength. A boy at
Newcastle who had been greatly reduced for a race, gained thirty ounces in
weight in the course of an hour, during which time he had only taken a
glass of wine. Dr. Home, after going to bed much fatigued and supperless,
gained two ounces before the morning. Keill says that one night he gained
eighteen ounces in his sleep. Immersion in water and damp air materially
increases this power. Frogs, toads, even lizards, increase in weight
although only partially dipped in water; and remarkably so if previously
deprived of part of their moisture by exposure to air. The power of
absorbing medicinal substances when immersed in their solution has been
demonstrated by Dr. Massy, an American physician, who found that if the
body was immersed in a decoction of madder,[50] this substance immediately
tinged the renal secretion. Dr. Rousseau made a similar experiment with
rhubarb. It is now clearly demonstrated that friction is not necessary to
produce absorption.
The keenness of the deaf and dumb boy in ascertaining the effluvium of
various individuals, to which I have alluded, induces me to give a short
sketch of this curious individual. His name was James Mitchell; and having
no other source by which he could discover or keep up a connexion with
surrounding objects than those of smell, taste, and touch, he depended
chiefly upon the first, like a domestic dog, in distinguishing persons
and things. By this sense he identified his friends and relations; and
conceived a sudden attachment or dislike to strangers. It was difficult,
however, to ascertain at what distance he could thus exercise this
faculty; but, from Mr. Wardrop's observations, it appears that he
possessed it at a considerable distance. This was particularly striking
when a person entered the room, as he seemed to be aware of this before he
could derive any information from any sense than that of smell. When a
stranger approached him, he eagerly began to touch some part of the body,
commonly taking hold of his arm, which he held near his nose; and, after
two or three strong inspirations through the nostrils, he appeared to form
a decided opinion concerning him. If it were favourable, he showed a
disposition to become more intimate, examined more minutely his dress, and
expressed in his countenance more or less satisfaction; but if it happened
to be unfavourable, he suddenly went off to a distance, with expressions
of carelessness or disgust.