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
I visited all the sick in the house twice every day; the sound were
examined by two surgeons night and morning, who informed me whenever
they found any of them indisposed. Whenever any symptoms occurred in a
patient which appeared to me doubtful, I kept such patient apart from
the rest, until I was satisfied the disorder was not the plague. In this
manner I detected the plague seven times among the soldiers[77] and
workmen belonging to the Foundling Hospital; but as I separated them on
the first appearance of the symptoms, they none of them infected the
others, except the master chimney-sweeper, who gave it to his
apprentice. After the month of July, we ceased to admit any more
foundlings or pregnant women. I proposed to the Governors to hire, in
the mean while, a house for this purpose in the suburbs, which was not
determined upon until the month of October[78]. At this time there still
continued to die in the town above a thousand persons in a day. I had
the children who were brought to this quarantine-house, stripped to the
skin; after which their clothes were burnt, their bodies washed all over
with vinegar and water, and new clothes put upon them. I kept them for
the space of a fortnight in three rooms detached from the rest; if,
after that time, no signs of the plague appeared among them, they were
put (having previously changed their clothes) each in the order in which
he finished this first term of probation, in the common dwelling-rooms
of the quarantine-house; here they remained another fortnight, before
they were removed to the Great Hospital. I visited every day these
children and the lying-in women[79]. One infant was brought with a
pestilential bubo, and two others, during the time of their quarantine,
had the plague with buboes, as mentioned in a former part of this
treatise. By putting them in separate rooms along with their nurses, the
contagion was prevented from spreading[80]. I had thus the happiness of
rescuing from death about one hundred and fifty children[81], brought to
the quarantine-house after the month of October. In the Spring of 1772,
every thing was restored to its former footing.
THE END.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Whatever doubts might have been entertained, as to the real nature
of the yellow fever, on its first appearance in North America, I believe
almost all physicians are now agreed that it is the plague, with such
modifications as are easily referable to difference of climate and
different mode of living.
[2] This can hardly fail to be the case until the American government
shall have recourse to some of those vigorous measures for eradicating
the contagion which are mentioned in the following pages.
[3] In a work, entitled Observationes de Febribus putridis, de Peste,
&c. published at Vienna, in 1778.
[4] _Schreiber_ Observat. et Cogitat. de Pestilentia quæ 1738 & 1739, in
Ukrania grassata est.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account