Loimologia: Or, an Historical Account of the Plague in London in 1665: With Precautionary Directions Against the Like ContagionHodges, Nathaniel
History
Loimologia: Or, an Historical Account of the Plague in London in 1665: With Precautionary Directions Against the Like Contagion
Hodges, Nathaniel
Plague -- England -- London -- Early works to 1800
BUT to give my Thoughts concerning the good or bad Effects of these
appended Remedies, I do not remember any one who had their Expectations
answered thereby; but many confiding too much in them, neglected other
more necessary Means of Preservation, and brought themselves into great
Hazard of their Lives by wearing them; a remarkable Instance of which I
met with in an elderly Lawyer, who upon wearing an Arsenical _Amulet_ upon
his Breast, had a pestilential Carbuncle rise under it, the third Day
after which he died. In some others large Vesications appeared, not from
any Venom drawn out, but from the Caustick Quality of the Charm it self,
and the Communication of its own Poison to the Part: What Madness was it,
in such a terrible Calamity, to put the Hazard of Life upon such idle and
ridiculous Experiments?
BUT to pass over such Baubles, and proceed to Means that are conformable
to Reason, and the Rules of Medicine, _Issues_ are not to be forgot; for
by these all kinds of Impurities are allowed to flow out along with the
pestilential Poison, as through an open and ready Passage; and the more of
these little Ulcers are made, the better, although their Largeness may
answer as well as more in Number; that is, if they are big enough to hold
4, 6 or 8 Peas together. If any one hath a Mind for two Issues, let one be
made in the left Arm, and the other in the opposite Leg. And as for the
Usefulness of these, I can speak it of my own Experience, that whensoever
I was most beset with pestilential Fumes, in the Course of my Business, I
could then immediately perceive a shooting Pain in my Issue, and had a
great deal of an ill conditioned Matter discharge from it; and this I
always looked upon as a sure Warning to have timely recourse to
_Alexipharmicks_.
GREAT Service was likewise found in the Preservation against the
Pestilence, as well as in its curative Part, by the Application of
_Blisters_, and keeping them open a good while.
HAVING thus come to a Conclusion, I think it not amiss to recite the Means
which I used to preserve my self from the Infection, during the continual
Course of my Business among the Sick.
AS soon as I rose in the Morning early, I took the Quantity of a Nutmeg of
the _Antipestilential Electuary_; then after the Dispatch of private
Concerns in my Family, I ventured into a large Room, where Crowds of
Citizens used to be in waiting for me; and there I commonly spent two or
three Hours, as in an Hospital, examining the several Conditions and
Circumstances of all who came thither; some of which had Ulcers yet
uncured, and others to be advised under the first Symptoms of Seizure; all
which I endeavoured to dispatch, with all possible Care to their various
Exigencies.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account