_Of the Cause of a Pestilence, and a Contagion._
AS it is our Purpose here to enquire into the Origin of the late Plague,
and find out both its manifest and hidden Causes; I cannot judge it
necessary to go into the usual Length of Writers, in a particular Recital
of all those remote Regards which they distinguish by Supernatural,
Preternatural, and Natural; because by such Means this Treatise would be
drawn out into an almost infinite needless Distinction.
THAT the Truth therefore may at once be brought into an open Light, and
the Pestilence appear in its genuine Affections, I think it proper to
premise this one Thing, because the whole depends upon it, _viz._ That the
Pestilence is the most notorious of all popular Diseases, and depends upon
some Cause equally common, and in every respect adequate to its extensive
Effects; which being granted, it naturally follows, that all particular
Causes which may accidentally intervene, (the Recital of which would be
very tedious) are resolvable into this one.
AND for what concerns that Pestilence now under Enquiry, this we have as
to its Origin, from the most irrefragable Authority, that it first came
into this Island by Contagion, and was imported to us from _Holland_, in
Packs of Merchandice; and if any one pleases to trace it further, he may
be satisfied by common Fame, it came thither from _Turkey_ in Bails of
Cotton or Silk, which is a strange Preserver of the pestilential Steams.
For that Part of the World is seldom free from such Infections, altho’ it
is sometimes more severe than others, according to the Disposition of
Seasons and Temperature of Air in those Regions: But if any would yet more
intimately be acquainted with its Origin, it concerns him to know all the
Changes the Air in these Climates is subject to, and its various
Properties of Dryness, Moisture, Heat, Cold, _&c._
BUT least I should be thought too prolix in the Enumeration of such
Circumstances, and incur the Suspicion of Atheism, (a Charge too just upon
the Faculty) by ascribing too much to second Causes, as the Schools please
to call them, it may be convenient for me to declare, that the το θειον
of a Pestilence is as much a Part of my Faith, as any others; the sacred
Pages clearly and demonstratively prove, that the Almighty, by his
Authority, and at his Pleasure, may draw the Sword, bend the Bow, or shoot
the Arrows of Death; and a Retrospection into Times past, shews many
convincing Proofs of this terrible Truth; and in this Contagion before us,
the Footsteps of an over-ruling Power are very legible, especially so far
as concerns his divine Permission: But the great God’s Purposes are
Secrets too awful for Mortals to pry into, although we know that he
punishes as a Parent, and chides for our Good, which makes it our Duty to
kiss the Rod, and submit. But enough of this, least I should be thought to
invade anothers Province; and it is sufficient to the Purpose of a
Physician, to assign natural and obvious Causes; and where such are
discoverable, it is unworthy of him and the divine Art he professes, as
well as an Affront to good Sense, to have Recourse to any other.
BUT this being premised only to prevent Censure, our Way now lies open to
a Discovery of the Nature of this Pestilence. Wherein, for Method Sake, I
shall begin with a Description of a Pestilence in general; and which if it
doth not exactly agree with the Accounts given by the Ancients, yet I
doubt not but it will be found by every impartial Considerer, to be as
full and satisfactory.
THE Pestilence is a Disease arising from an _Aura_ that is poisonous, very
subtle, deadly, and contagious, affecting many Persons at the same Time
together in one Country, chiefly arising from a Corruption of the nitrous
Spirit in the Air, attended with a Fever, and other very grievous
Symptoms.
EVERY one of these Particulars are as clear as the Light at Noon-day; and
these Explications are so obvious to be met with in the Writings of the
Learned, that it would be lost Labour to insist upon any such Thing here;
we shall therefore proceed to explain only what more immediately stands in
need of it.
AND first of all it is said from an _Aura_, as distinguishing it from such
Poison as is more gross and earthy; for this is not to be confined in any
Inclosure, but is so rare, subtle, volatile, and fine, that it insinuates
into, and resides in the very Interstices, or Pores of the aerial
Particles; whereas that which is of a more fixed Nature, is confined
within certain Limits, and is incapable of such Progress.
IT is said to be poisonous also, from its Similitude to the Nature of a
Poison, and both being equally destructive to Life, and killing Persons
much after the same Manner, so that they seem to differ in Degree only;
for the deadly Quality of a Pestilence vastly exceeds either the arsenical
Minerals, the most poisonous Animals or Insects, or the killing
Vegetables; nay, the Pestilence seems to be a Composition of all the other
Poisons together, as well as in its fatal Efficacies to excel them, for in
this there is manifestly joined both the Height of Putrefaction and
Malignity. And as in a great man the Virulence of this Taint hath been
discoverable, so in one Youth for Instance it was so remarkable, that even
in the Point of Death the whole Body changed green, which so alarmed the
Mother, that she immediately hasted to my House, to know whether by
Mistake there had not been some Poison given him; whereas he had taken
nothing but mild and common Alexipharmicks; this green Hue therefore was a
Demonstration of the poisonous Vitriolick Nature of the pestilential
Taint.
IT is said to be very subtile both on Account of its Original and
Production, before it hath escaped from its native Seat; and that
wonderful Comminution which it cannot but undergo in its Progress through
so many Climates, whereby it is, as it were, sublimed to the highest
Degree of Volatility, beyond that of any Meteor, which is the Production
of gross, corporeal, and heterogeneous Particles; nay, it is more active
than Lightning, and in the Twinkling of an Eye carries to a Distance
Putrefaction, Mortification, and Death.
AS for the Manner whereby it kills, its approaches are generally so
secret, that Persons seized with it seem to be fallen into an Ambuscade,
or a Snare, of which there was no Manner of Suspicion; they are therefore
not to be credited or regarded, who affirm the Progress of a Pestilence to
be sensible, even to the Smell and Sight, and report (though who will may
believe them for me) the Infection to resemble the Fragrancy of Flowers in
_May_, or any other sweet Savour; or, on the contrary, to strike the Nose
like the Stench of a rotten Carcase; nay, some pretend to be so
sharp-sighted, as to discern Clouds in the Atmosphere big with
pestilential Poysons, and other such Conceits of a distempered
Imagination, that are chiefly the Products of Fear, which construes every
Thing for the worst: Although indeed I must confess, that sometimes this
very subtile _Aura_ may be so mixed or loaded with gross and sulphureous
Particles, as to be perceptible to the Senses.
FURTHER, as to the fatal Influences of a Plague, if the before recited
Account is not sufficient to shew it, it would not be a Task of any
Difficulty to produce many Instances of its Tyranny and Destruction: Hence
the Plague by the _Hebrews_ was called לבד, or Perdition; as if it was
ordained on Purpose to destroy Mankind: It is also called _Lues_, from
λυω, to dissolve, a most certain Way of Destruction, and whose fatal
Property in the Plague is most remarkable, whereby it does not so much
prepare the Way, as immediately of its self destroy, and of whose certain
Ruin, through whole Regions together, we have too many Testimonies upon
Record, in the Writings both of Ancients and Moderns.
AGAIN, the Pestilence is said to be contagious; because some are come to
that Height of Boldness, (being blind with too much Light) to propagate
strange Conjectures to the contrary, as if the late Plague was begun and
continued by a foreign Influence; but to remove this Controversie, it may
be convenient to explain the Nature of a Contagion, and its supposed
Conditions of Exertion; but before I enter upon this, it will be necessary
to dispatch the other Members of this Definition.
IT is further added, that the Plague affects many Regions together at the
same Time, in Order to distinguish it both from _Endemick_ Diseases, that
is, such as are appropriate to one Place only; and also from _Sporadick_
Diseases, which although they rage amongst the Populace in this or that
Country or Climate indifferently, according to the Influence of their
procatarctick Causes, they are yet to be deemed particular, as well as
they are pernicious: But enough of these Matters.
AT length then it becomes necessary to change the Consideration, and
enquire how it comes that the Plague hath its chief Origin from a Change
or Corruption of the nitrous Spirits in the Air: This is the great
Difficulty! This is our Task! It is therefore to be hoped that the Novelty
of the Opinion will not occasion any one to receive it at first Sight
amiss, until by due Examination he hath brought it to Trial; but in Order
to erect this upon a sure Foundation, it is proper to premise some
Considerations.
AND first of all, the central nitrous Spirit does every where transpire
and exhale towards the Surface, to recruit the Consumptions of Nature, and
for other Purposes hereafter to be mentioned. From this saline Origin
straining through the Bowels of the Earth, it is by every one understood
Vegetation is carried on; and that the Light and vital Warmth of the Sun
is impregnated by it through the whole Region of Air; and the mutual
Intercourses or Operations upon one another between the Sun’s Rays, and
these saline Exhalations, by a Kind of Magnetism between them, is too
obvious in a Multitude of Instances to want any Comment.
I know in nothing indeed where there is a greater Intercourse and
Sympathy; and a considerable Illustration of which may be made by the
following Experiment. If any one in the Spring-time, when the Sun is
approaching nearer to us, digs up a Piece of Earth, and after Infusion and
Filtration, evaporates the Liquor, he will find at the Bottom of the
Vessel a Sixth Part of Salt more than at any other Time of the Year, from
the same Quantity of Earth managed after the same Manner; the nitrous Salt
for many Reasons not arising in so great a Quantity for the Exigencies of
Nature, at any other Times; whence I conceive it manifestly to prove, that
there is such an Efflux of this Salt as before suggested, and a Kind of
Sublimation of it into the Air, and that this saline Spirit hath a Sort of
Sympathy with the superior Heat. But that we may not use more Arguments
than are necessary to prove the Energy of this Principle, every one who is
doubtful herein may observe, that not only Plants are produced and
nourished by its subtle and luxuriant Insinuation into their Fibres, but
that also from the same aerial Spirit the Life of Animals, and even the
humane Species is preserved. And I cannot see any Difficulty in the
Opinion, that the best Temperature of the Blood and animal Juices, the
Renewal of wasted Spirits, the Restauration of Strength, and the good and
healthful Constitution of the Viscera, Members, and whole Body, is
maintained by the Assistance of this nitro-aerial Spirit. Nor does any
Thing appear more congruous to Reason, than that from the same Cause does
the Racy Spirit of the Blood arise, as it is not derivable from any other;
nor is it my single Opinion, that from the same Principle it derives its
Colour; but as there are no Arguments even objected to this Doctrine, it
is needless to imploy more Time in its Vindication.
BUT further, it may happen that this nitro-aerial Spirit may various Ways
be changed in its Properties; that is, either with Regard to its
proliffick Influences, (if it may be so expressed) or, which much oftner
happens, in its accidental and adventitious Impurities.
SOMETIMES this universal Principle languishes and degenerates, and in its
own productive Womb is tainted with somewhat pernicious to Vitality, and
that natural balsamick Constitution of Blood that supports it; and as
often as this is the Case, the whole Orders of living Beings may look upon
it as War declared against them: But where any Alteration is made upon it
by particular and fortuitous Causes, it is generally from too much
Humidity diluting it, as in immoderate and unseasonable Rains, whence
moist, crude, and unwholsome Vapours exhale; for every one knows how much
Humidity is a Promoter of Putrefaction; whence Swarms of Insects, which is
a certain Forerunner of a Pestilence: It also sometimes happens, that this
vital Spirit, which so much delights in Dryness, is almost quite
extinguished by a rainy Season; in which Exigency, what Miseries may not
Mankind expect, when a small Change is of so fatal Consequence? This is
abundantly confirmed by the Experience of Marshy Countries, where the
Diseases recurring every Year are very fatal, by means of the putrid and
damp Exhalations.
FURTHERMORE, this nitrous Principle may be sometimes changed in its own
Repository by too intense a Heat from within, as well as without; for by
so precipitate a Sublimation its Spirit may be deadned; that is, being
robbed of its balsamick Quality, (which is no Absurdity to suppose) and
kindled into too rapid a Motion, it may receive a kind of _Empyreuma_; and
from which Adustion there may arise several Sorts of Distemperature; as
Blasts upon Trees, and Diseases amongst Cattle; and at last end in a
Pestilence amongst Mankind.
FOR further Illustration hereof it may be observed, that the nitrous
Spirit which circulates through the subterraneous Caverns may, instead of
Obtaining a further Purification, take along with it corrupt and poysonous
Vapours from arsenical or other Minerals; and loaded therewith, break out
into the open Air: And this we have confirmed from common Observation in
the Western Climes of _Africa_, that lye under the _Equator_, wherein the
very Showers seem to be endued with a Stiptick or Caustick Power, so as
to taint the Cloaths and Skin of the Travellers, and burn, as it were,
upon them pestilential Characters. From which Disposition it cannot be a
Wonder to any, that the Plague should reign after Earthquakes; because a
poysonous Spirit at such Times break out into the Air; as also that Nitre
thus loaded with an impure Mixture, and sometimes too that which is
deadly, should of it self, like the Occursion of an Acid, force out its
Way wherever there is Room, and leave behind in its Passage many Marks of
Malignity; so that subterraneous Animals, such as Moles, Mice, Serpents,
Conies, Foxes, _&c._ as conscious of approaching Mischief, leave their
Burrows, and lie open in the Air; which is also a certain Sign of a
Pestilence at Hand: Hence also a sudden Death of Fish; and a Departure of
the Birds of the Air, to secure their Safety in that which is more
wholesome.
AFTER these Observations, it remains to shew how the nitrous Spirit
frequently receives a Change like to that which may be termed Corruption,
although it is vulgarly accounted incorruptible in it self, and is
serviceable in Preserving other Things from Putrefaction.
TO the Solution of this uncommon Difficulty, it is to be taken Notice that
Corruption here is not in that Sense strictly as when it is the Produce of
Humidity, but somewhat more congruous to the peculiar Nature of a nitrous
Spirit; which although it cannot, like some other Bodies, putrifie, yet if
it can be changed from its Nature and Figure, so as not to be reducible
into them again, it does not seem improperly said that such a Change is
equivalent to Corruption, its Vitality or Essence being destroyed, and a
new Texture being obtained. And this I shall further endeavour to
illustrate by a double Argument.
FIRST, It is not at all to be doubted, but that what Art, which is the
Imatator of Nature, can do, may be done by the Efficiency of a more
powerful Agent; and the most expert Chymists do shew a certain Corruption
of Salt; nor would it be any great Labour to discover here the Method how
it is done, were it not a Crime to expose the Secrets of Nature on
trifling Occasions. But if my Authority is not sufficient to support an
Assertion of this Weight, I trust no one will reject the Conviction that
arises from Effects, and therefore I shall restrain the Proof hereof to as
short a Compass as possible. As then it is established by the concurrent
Authority of Antiquity, that as Fire, as it is an Element capable of
Degeneration, and seemingly of Corruption, may increase a pestilential
Malignity by Means of its great Subtilty, its prodigious Increase, and
swift Propagation; Qualities too which a Pestilence very much partakes of.
That which they conceited of Fire, seems to me to be applicable in a much
more philosophical Sense to that Spirit we are speaking of, and which so
nearly resembles it. I am indeed a Stranger to any Thing in the Universe
that makes so swift a Progress as a Pestilence, and therefore the
infectious _Miasmata_ are in the sacred Scriptures styled _Arrows that fly
in the Dark_; and howsoever certain are their Strokes, and tho’ by Means
of their Fineness they penetrate into the very Marrow, they yet shun by
their Subtilty our Conceptions.
AS to the spreading of a Contagion from one to another, and so on to
Thousands, there is nothing can be possibly more swift in the Progress of
Fire; and it exceeds even _Antimony_ in the Retention of its Properties,
though that loses them not in a thousand Infusions: But the instantaneous
Progress of this Enemy to Mankind is best illustrated by the Rapidity of
Light, which is not greater. But more of this we pass by till we come
professedly to speak of a Contagion.
SECONDLY, the particular Nature of the pestilential _Miasmata_, may be
known from their peculiar Influence upon the saline Particles in a humane
Body; for nothing acts with more Efficacy and Energy upon a saline Body,
than another partaking of the same Quality; and nothing is more plain than
that this nitrous Spirit is of more Efficacy than the _Alkahest_ it self,
as by it the fibrous Parts of the Blood are immediately corroded and
dissolved; and therefore after dangerous Hemorrhages, very little
Coagulation can be obtained in the extravasated Blood, unless by its being
exposed to the Cold: but as often as that does happen, do not we
immediately find a Fixation of the Fluids, and a certain Congelation of
the Juices, which greatly retards their rapid Motions, and sometimes
brings even a total Stagnation: It’s furthermore of considerable
Importance to our present Argument, that Spasms, the constant Attendants
of a Plague, have their Origin from an acrid vellicating Salt in the
nervous Fluid.
TO these it may likewise be added, that a Pestilence has a great
Similitude to a scorbutick Habit, having its Origin from a saline
Constitution of Blood; and the great Likeness there is in many
Circumstances of their Generation and Propagation, insomuch that after a
Pestilence is with others ceased, it will yet continue to infect
scorbutick Constitutions; as hereafter will further appear: From the same
Cause likewise does a pestilential Contagion reign most in Maritime
Countries, and near the Sea-Coasts; because such a saline Disposition does
there most abound; and the Truth of this, the Maritime Parts of our own
Country do by sad Experience too much testifie.
LASTLY, If Arguments taken to this Purpose from the Method of Cure were
valid, from thence it may be gathered, that a saline Spirit hath a great
share in giving Rise to a Pestilence; for in our curative Regards for this
Distemper, a skilful and upright Physician bends his whole Care at first
to prevent its Attack, which he does by the Use of oleaginous Substances,
by that Means expecting to cover over the Stomach as it were with a
Plaster, to guard it against sharp and corrosive _Effluvia_; the same
Intention is also pursued by Medicines, in endeavouring to defend against
the poysonous Taint, or throw it out when received by Alexipharmicks and
Diaphoreticks: For every one who is but tolerably conversant in such
Practice, very well knows that the saline Particles are thrown off this
Way much more effectually than by any other; and a further Demonstration
of this Matter is also, that the Sweat of infected Persons, as in the late
Sickness, gives extream pungent Pains by its Acrimony in its Exit; and
that the more brackish such Sweat comes out, the more serviceable it
proves; whereas when it happened to be soft and insipid, it was a sure
Forerunner of worse Symptoms, and even of Death.
FURTHERMORE, as to curative Intentions, all Diligence was used to preserve
and restore the internal Ferments from a Contagion; and this was chiefly
done by saline Preparations of various Kinds, which gave greater Energy to
the natural Spirits, so as to alter and renew them by Means of that
Similitude of Texture and Constitution naturally between them.
AGAIN, what was excreted did greatly establish this our Hypothesis; what
was thrown up by hard Vomiting discovered nothing more than a rancid
Brackishness, that vellicated the Stomach into Convulsions by its
acrimonious and corrosive Qualities; and the frothy and fermentative
Nature of what was ejected by Stool, fully showed its saline Mixture: But
we shall come more fully to talk of this hereafter: To conclude therefore
this Controversie; although the Hypothesis here laid down may at first
Appearance seem new, yet it does not so far differ from the Sentiments of
the Ancients upon the same Subject, as confirm and explain what they have
said: It comes down to us for the Opinion of some of them, that a
Putrefaction of Choler in an humane Body gives Rise to a Pestilence; and
of others, that Fire may be so corrupted, as to occasion the same; what
therefore the former conceived of Choler, and the latter of Fire, we judge
more justly ascribed here to a vitiated saline Spirit. But least we should
too long dwell upon this Argument, if it was needful to recite all the
Causes enumerated by Authors of this Malady, it would be difficult to find
any one which does not coincide with this our Hypothesis; so that
whosoever pleases to be at this Pains, must either assent with us, or
reject them; and he that does not like our Opinion, would do well to shew
a better.
IN the above-described Pestilence, as indeed in many others, Persons
frequently died, without any preceeding Symptoms of Horror, Thirst, or
concomitant Fever: For the Confirmation of which, I shall give an Instance
or two out of a great many; A Woman, who was the only one left alive of
the Family, and yet to her Thinking perfectly well, perceived upon her
Breast the pestilential Spots, which she looking upon to be the fatal
Tokens, in a very short Space died, without feeling any other Disorder, or
any other Forerunner of Death.
A Youth also of a good Constitution, after he had found himself on a
sudden marked with the Tokens of the Contagion, believed at first they
were not the genuine Marks, because he found himself so well, and yet he
was dead in less than four Hours after, as his Physician had before
prognosticated.
BUT how suddenly soever the Sickness killed some People, whether by
suddenly seizing the Brain, Heart, Lungs, or any other principal Part,
with a deadly Infection, or poisoning the vital Spirits at once, so that
no Appearance could be discerned, even of a lurking Fever, yet for the
most Part, some Fever did shew it self.
AND it cannot be thought strange, that most who took the Contagion should
have a Fever, to those who consider the Nature of a nitrous Spirit,
especially when degenerated, and that from the most slight Cause it will
take Fire, and excite Heat; and the Fever accompanying this present
Sickness was of the worst Kind, both on Account of its State and Periods,
sometimes imitating a Quotidian, and at others a Tertian; sometimes
seeming to retreat, and at others attacking again with redoubled Fury:
There was never a total Cessation, but sometimes a Remission for an Hour
or two, although every Exacerbation was worse than the former; but this I
pass by here, having Occasion hereafter to enlarge further thereupon.
AT length therefore, to discharge my Promise in giving a short Account of
a Contagion, as of a Disease that is communicable that Way only, and
killing most it seizes, it is to be taken Notice, that the Infection of
the pestilential Poison is not only transferrable from one Subject to
another, either by mediate or immediate Contact, and exciting the same
Symptoms; but all the Conditions likewise of its Exertion, are as
conspicuous as the Noon-day Sun; wherefore those Arguments to prove the
pestilential Corruption not to arise from Contagion, are trifling and not
worth Notice, as altogether disconsonant to Reason and Experience; as
after I have enumerated the Conditions of a contagious Exertion, I doubt
not but to make this Matter clear to every one.
FOUR Things chiefly are necessary to a Contagion:
_FIRST_, That there is an Efflux of the contagious _Seminium_.
_SECONDLY_, That there is a convenient _Medium_ for the contagious
Particles to move through, and be conveyed by.
_THIRDLY_, A Fitness in the Subject to receive and cherish the contagious
_Effluvia_. And,
_FOURTHLY_, A due Stay of this _Seminium_; of all which distinctly.
THE Quantity of Necessaries daily taken in for Refreshment does evidently
demonstrate, that insensible Perspiration is much larger than all other
Evacuations together: But where a Pestilence invades, a yet much greater
Wast is made that Way than in a Time of Health, by the intestine
Colluctation and Struggle of opposite Principles in the animal Fluids;
this is confirmed by the Observation of _Sanctorius_, who tells us, that
Persons taken with a pestilential Contagion, immediately become much
lighter, the _Effluvia_ of their Bodies breaking through on all Sides with
Rapidity; for such is the Energy of the pestilential Taint, that it
immediately subtilizes more thick Substances, and gives them such a
Sharpness, as to cut their Way like so many Needles, or Wedges, and very
often carry along with them those natural Spirits which should be a
Preservative to the whole Frame: Hence sometimes follow Swoonings and
Faintings that are fatal, and Indications of that Wast of Spirits that
hath been made by the pestilential Poison.
HENCE moreover it appears, of what a diffused Nature this Contagion may be
of, by the great Plenty that transpires from an infected Person; and which
Steam alone, as it is sufficient to communicate the Infection, so it is
also capable of vast Dilatation and Diffusion; not much unlike the Snuff
of a Candle, which not only emits a great deal of Smoak, but carries a
considerable Stench along with it into very distant Parts.
_SECONDLY_, A fit _Medium_ is very conducive to the Propagation of the
Plague; for according to the Disposition of that, in being more or less
open or confined, is the Infection sooner or slower communicated: Nor is
there any Doubt, but that the Air is this fit _Medium_, and whose Pores,
altho’ very minute, are readily filled with it; and therein the noxious
_Effluvia_ lodge securely, unless expelled by any external Force.
THE Air is moreover the more convenient Recepticle and Conveyance of this
pestilential Poyson, on account of that nitrous Spirit with which it
abounds; hence it more easily receives the poisonous _Aura_, and
faithfully preserves it as in a proper Conservatory, and on this Account
the pernicious Qualities, (unless first destroyed by some uncommon Power)
sooner reach any Subject to act upon, and float about in Readiness for
Destruction: Sometimes also the pestilential _Miasmata_ may be broke and
destroyed by the Occursion of others, without any Perception of either
having been in this _Medium_.
HENCE it comes strongly to be conjectured, how the pestilential _Seminium_
comes to be hid so secretly in the Porosities of the Air, so as to be
conveyed from one Country to another, and to travel unperceived into very
distant Regions. Further, as this _Medium_ is more still, it is so much
the more capable to receive the pestilential Infection; whereupon Places
that are close, confined, and dark, as Prisons, and Houses in Vallies, are
much more liable to Contagion, than Situations upon Eminencies, where the
Air is frequently agitated by Winds; for the malignant _Effluvia_ cannot
so well fix in an Air so tumultuously hurried about; and they are likewise
rendred less hurtful by a continual Mixture of fresh Air with them.
_THIRDLY_, A suitable Disposition of the Subject is very necessary for the
Reception of the pestilential Taint; and this Disposition respects either
some Fitness in the Pores of the Body, or a long Accumulation of
distempered Humours. The more open the Pores are, and the wider, by so
much the more easily will the Infection penetrate into the Body; and the
more constringed they are, the better Security is there against it,
insomuch that hardly by any other Means can it enter.
A Turgescency of bad Humours greatly facilitates the Plague’s Admission
into any Person, whether such a morbid Constitution arises from the
Suppression of usual Evacuations, or from an erroneous Use of the
Non-naturals; and most of all, a Load of bad Humours from an Excess or a
Surfeit, leaves so great a Similitude to the pestilential Poison, as
greatly to encourage its Admission. But besides these Dispositions of the
Subject, it is much to the Purpose to suggest this following Observation,
that the Plague is sometimes so much hereditary, and influenced by a
seminal Taint, that in a common Contagion it shall much exert it self in
some in the same Manner upon Children, as their Parents, as in the
_Small-Pox_, and other Affections of like Nature.
_FOURTHLY_, It is necessary that there should be a continual Lodgment of
the pestilential Poison; for if the noxious Steams were blown away as
soon as received, there would be but little Mischief done; but those which
meet with any glutinous Matter, and a certain _Lentor_ from the Viscidity
of the Humours, with which they lie entangled, until they are carried
through the larger Vessels with the Blood, begin to fuse and taint all the
animal Juices; and thus the pestiferous _Miasmata_ having got Possession,
are able to subvert the whole Machine, and bring all into Confusion,
without requiring any long Stay to execute their pernicious Effects; for
as soon as they once find a viscid and tenacious Substance, they eagerly
join with it, and are but with great Difficulty to be extricated. Yet
notwithstanding it is generally thus, I have sometimes found Instances of
a longer Stay of the pestilential Poison before its Exertion, where the
Symptoms of Infection have not appeared until a fit Time of Maturity for
Eruption into Action, and for the Confirmation of which several Instances
might be produced were it controverted; I have known many go into the
Country after Intercourses with the infected, and keep well for a Month or
two, when the Enemy that has lay hid so long, rushed out of its
Fastnesses, and by its Fury sufficiently compensated its foregoing Delays;
and this Eruption sooner might very probably have been hindred, partly by
the Viscosity of the Humours entangling the pestilential _Miasmata_, and
partly from an over-powerful balsamick Quality, natural to a good Blood,
and to a Plenty and Vigour of animal Spirit; but as I would not be tedious
upon Things so very obvious, this shall suffice concerning a Contagion.
BESIDES the Causes already recited, there may be others also worth
Consideration, _viz._ the eating corrupted, or rotten Flesh; and it is not
at all foreign to our Purpose here to take Notice, that on the Year before
the late pestilential Sickness, there was a great Mortality amongst the
Cattel, from a very wet Autumn, whereby their Carcases were sold amongst
the ordinary People at a very mean Price; and a great deal of putrid
Humours in all likelihood produced from thence: And this, in the Opinion
of many, was the Source of our last Calamities; and many knowing Persons
ascribe the Pestilence to this Origin, as the morbid Disposition which
such a Feeding must needs subject the People, could not but facilitate
both the Infection and Progress of that fatal Destroyer.
TO this I do not deny, but that the common People, who fed upon such a
Diet even to Gluttony, might treasure up Matter enough for so deadly an
Impression, and with which the Plague might naturally enough go into a
Co-operation; but such Provision, although very much corrupt, and liable
thereby to excite Symptoms like to those in a Pestilence; yet they were
not in Plenty enough to supply the whole Market, and therefore a Cause so
private and particular, could not be supposed to extend to so universal an
Effect.
HENCE it is further manifest, that a corrupt Diet can do no more in giving
a pestilential Impression, than a good one can in removing it; and
therefore, not to dwell too long upon this Matter, it is my Opinion that
such a Way of Living may raise the Humours to a Degree of Putrefaction, as
brings Fevers very malignant, and causes epidemical Diseases, but not a
true Pestilence.
AND the Conjecture that a Sickness amongst Cattle is transferable to the
humane Species, hath not yet appeared on any good Foundation; but to
remove this Difficulty, no one doubts but that a Plague amongst Cattle,
from some common Cause, as a Corruption of the aerial Nitre, and which
differs from a Plague amongst Men but in Degree, may also be transmitted
to the humane Species; that is, a feebler Degree of Poison, and a milder
_Aura_, may taint the Herbage, than that which is sufficient to destroy
the firmer Constitution of Animals; besides which, from the Diversity in
the Pores of Brutes, and their different Constitutions, and the Fortitude
in the Spirit of a Man, I cannot be induced to believe that the Pestilence
amongst Cattle from a private Cause, can ever obtain any Dominion over
Mankind. These Stories therefore have no Weight with me, that a certain
Leech, upon opening an Horse, that with a great many others had died of
some common Distemper, in Order to know what it was, and finding certain
pestilential Tokens upon his Inwards, both the Master and the Family soon
died of the Infection; which yet went no further than that Family, but
expired with them.
DURING the late Plague likewise at _London_, a Citizen travelling into the
Country, found his Horse of a sudden to tire and fall down, whereupon he
opened his Mouth to find out if possible the Cause of so sudden a Change;
when the good Man, upon Receipt of the Horse’s Breath upon him,
immediately grew sick, and died in two Days Time.
BUT these and the like Instances certainly tend to prove no more than that
there may be Constitutions and malignant Steams, which, by agitating the
Mass of Humours, may excite putrid and irregular Orgasms, wherein the
Juices and Animal Fluids, according to the Quantity and Prevalency of the
Distemperature, and the Variety of the infused Taint, with the Diversity
of Putrefaction, goes into Corruption; but the forementioned
Transplantation of the Plague does not happen but where there is a
suitable Predisposition of Humours to admit it, as its Cause is not
general.
MOREOVER, although the Intemperature of the Year, sudden Change of Air,
Suppression of usual Evacuation, Diminution of Perspiration, Drunkenness,
Venery, and Passions of the Mind, especially Anger and Fear, are justly
reckoned amongst the remote Causes of a Pestilence; yet they regard rather
the Invasion of it, than its Origin; but of this we shall say more
hereafter. As to the above-mentioned Passions, it is almost incredible how
some, at the Height of the Infection, would from a very slight Cause
kindle into the utmost Rage, and rave at one another like meer Scolds,
until Death parted their Contentions.
NOR does Fear or Sorrow less prepare the Way for the Infection, by
deadning the Fancy and Memory, by Suffocating the Spirits, Suppressing the
natural Heat, breaking the Constitution, and Promoting Malignity: We have
manifold Instances of this kind in Readiness; but if, as some do, we
should be prolix in the Enumeration of Things that want not Proof, the
Reader would be quite tired with needless Stories.
BUT now it may be convenient to add a few Remarks concerning the
Translation of a Pestilence from an hot Country to a cold one; for
according to the different Effects of Heat and Cold, the one attenuating
and rarefying, the other condensing and constipating, the pestilential
Venom is strangely altered, insomuch that in a Thing so obvious, there
does not require much to be said: Every Thing of this kind prodigiously
spreads in hot Climates, as being more subtile than even the Air it self;
tho’ the same in the Northern Countries is more restrained, and confined
in Fastnesses it cannot escape from; and from hence the Reason is very
obvious why there is so much Difference between the Diseases of different
Climates, which would be too tedious for us here to go into.
TO come nearer therefore to our Business; the same Affections that in an
hot Country heat the Blood and other Juices, so as in a great Measure to
put them into Fusion, when translated into the contrary Extream may give
contrary Properties to the same Fluids, and _è contra_; and this might be
demonstrated by innumerable Experiments, were there any Doubt about it.
IT being then granted, that this Plague first was brought from _Africa_,
or _Asia_, to _Holland_, and from thence into _Britain_, every one may
easily conjecture, how much Alteration it must undergo in such a Travel,
from a hot and dry Climate into a moist and cold one, not so much in its
own Nature, as from the Vehicle of Air which conveyed it, and thereby
producing different Degrees of Infection, and Series of Symptoms: But this
Variation would be most discernable in the Complication of the
pestilential _Seminium_, with the particular Diseases of each Country, and
those which are as it were peculiar to them: This in our Case is very well
worth Notice, for in _Holland_, where the Scurvy extreamly reigns, and
therefore, for Reasons before given, most liable to a pestilential
Infection, it obtained only as a more aggravated Scurvy, as shall
hereafter be further remarked.
AS for that Opinion of the famous _Kircher_, about animated Worms, I must
confess I never could come at any such Discovery with the Help of the
best Glasses, nor ever found the same discovered by any other; but perhaps
in our cloudy Island we are not so sharp-sighted as in the serene Air of
_Italy_; and with Submission to so great a Name, it seems to me very
disconsonant to Reason, that such a pestilential _Seminium_, which is both
of a nitrous and poisonous Nature, should produce a living Creature.
AS in putrid Fevers, so in a Pestilence, Malignity is a Destroyer of
Insects, and frightens them away as it were alive, so far is it from
giving Birth to them; indeed in some malignant Ulcers and Cancers, and in
the Blood of some People, sometimes _animalcula_ are found; which is
rather to be looked upon as the Effect of some Fault in the nutritious
Juice, than the Produce of any Poison; and therefore they are not to be
accounted amongst the Causes of a Pestilence.
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