And as to those preservative Means which the Government have only a Power to direct, the making of large Fires in the Streets, as has been practised in the Times of Contagion, is a Point largely contested. Dr. _Hodges_[18] seems inveterate against this Custom, and tells us, 'That before three Days were expired after the Fires made in 1665, the most fatal Night ensued, wherein more than 4000 expired; the Heavens both mourn'd so many Funerals, and wept for the fatal Mistake, so as to extinguish even the Fires with their Showers. May Posterity, (says he) be warned by this Mistake, and not like Empericks, apply a Remedy where they are ignorant of the Cause.' And Dr. _Mead_[19] has an Eye to this Remark, when he tells us, 'The fatal Success of the Trials in the last Plague is more than sufficient to discourage any farther Attempts of this Nature.' Whereas on the contrary, the making of Fires in the Streets were practised from the greatest Antiquity, and supported by _Mayerne_, _Butler_, and _Harvey_ in the two great Plagues before the Year 1665, and recommended by Dr. _Quincey_[20] for the Dissipation of Pestilential Vapours, _&c._ And without all manner of Dispute, Dr. _Bradley_[21] must be wholly on his Side, when he tells us, 'That the Year 1665, was the last that we can say raged in _London_, which might happen from the Destruction of the City by Fire the following Year 1666, and besides the destroying of the Eggs or Seeds of those poisonous Animals that were then in the stagnating Air, might likewise purifie the Air in such a Manner as to make it unfit for the Nourishment of others of the same kind, which were swimming or driving in the circumambient Air.'