An account of the plague which raged at Moscow, in 1771 — John Shaqi
An account of the plague which raged at Moscow, in 1771Mertens, Charles de
History
An account of the plague which raged at Moscow, in 1771
Mertens, Charles de
Plague -- Russia (Federation) -- Moscow -- Early works to 1800
The _next degree or variety_ is that which occurs when the plague is at
its height. This is the most terrible form of the disorder. All the
symptoms are marked with violence. The head-ache is incessant, and the
vomiting recurs frequently; the external characters are numerous;
carbuncles appear in various parts of the body; the petechiæ or maculæ
are very large and confluent, and often turn to carbuncles a short time
before death. This happens in the following manner: two, three, or four
large petechiæ run together and form a yellow pustule; sometimes a
similar pustule rises upon each petechiæ; in either case, on opening the
pustules, a true carbuncle appears beneath. In some instances the
patient is seized from the first with a furious delirium; at other times
this delirium or phrenitic state does not supervene until the second,
third, or fourth day. If this disorder of the brain continues until the
seventh day, there are hopes of recovery; on the other hand, if the
delirium ceases on or after the first or second day, and the patient
becomes tranquil and feeble, such an alteration is a certain presage of
death. If this change took place in the morning, the patients died in
the evening; if in the evening, they did not live over the night. At
other times torpor came on, and continued through the whole of the
disease, so that the patients died without pain, or at least without
appearing to suffer any. In some instances, on being asked how they
were, the patients replied, "very well," and called for meat and drink;
but soon after they sunk into a deliquium animi, in which they remained
motionless, and died.--The pulse was irregular from the beginning. When
there was violent head-ache, with high delirium, &c. the pulse was full,
hard, strong, and quick; on the other hand, when these symptoms ceased,
whether shortly after the attack or after the second or third day, the
pulse then became soft, feeble, intermitting, and not to be felt[55]. In
many instances the skin was dry and hot, and the patients complained of
a burning sensation, both outwardly and inwardly; in others the heat
was not so great; in some the skin was yellow; in others it had a pale
corpse-like appearance, joined with great flabbiness. The diarrhoea
was often accompanied with an incontinence of urine, both which it was
sometimes impossible to check; in such cases, these symptoms (occurring
together) were the fore-runners of death. The diarrhoea was common to
both sexes; but the incontinence of urine was observed in female
patients only.
3. _The third degree or variety of the plague_ occurred in the decline
of the epidemic. Its symptoms are the same as those which take place in
the first type; and, therefore, to avoid repetition, we refer to
that[56].
B.
_Questions relative to the Nature, Prevention,
and curative Treatment of the Plague._
The questions proposed by Prince _Orlow_ to the physicians, and
surgeons, were
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