Part 1 (1/2)
A Discourse on the Plague.
by Richard Mead.
THE PREFACE.
THIS Book having at first been written only as a Plan of Directions for preserving our Country from the =Plague=[1] was then very short and concise. An Act of Parliament being immediately after made for performing =Quarantaines= &c. according to the Rules here laid down, it pa.s.sed through seven Editions in one year without any Alterations. I then thought proper to make some =Additions= to it, in order to shew the Reasonableness of the Methods prescribed, by giving a more full Description of this Disease, and collecting some Examples of the good Success which had attended such Measures, when they had been put in Practice. At the same time I annex'd a short Chapter relating to the Cure of the Plague; being induced thereto by considering how widely most Authors have erred in prescribing a Heap of useless and very often hurtful Medicines, which they recommend under the specious t.i.tles of =Antidotes=, =Specifics= and =Alexipharmacs=: hoping that the great Resemblance, which I had observed between this Disease and the =Small Pox=, would justify my writing upon a Distemper which I have never seen.
INDEED the =Small Pox= is a true =Plague=, tho' of a particular kind, bred, as I have shewn all Pestilences are, in the same hot =Egyptian= Climate, and brought into =Asia= and =Europe= by the way of Commerce; but most remarkably by the War with the =Saracens=, called the =Holy War=, at the latter end of the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth Century[2]. Ever since which time the morbific Seeds of it have been preserved in the infected Cloaths and the Furniture of Houses: and have broken out more or less in all Countries, according as the hot and moist Temperature of the Air has favoured their Spreading and the Exertion of their Force. The =Measles= is likewise a =Plague sui generis=, and owes its Origin to the same Country.
I have now revised my little Work once more: and though I cannot find any reason to change my Mind as to any material Points which regard either the =Preventing= or the =Stopping= the Progress of =Infection=; yet I have here and there added some new =Strokes= of Reasoning, and, as the Painters say, retouch'd the =Ornaments=, and hightened the =Colouring= of the =Piece=.
THE Substance of the long Preface to the last Edition is as follows.
I have insisted more at large upon the =Infection= of this Disease, than I could ever have thought needful at this time, after =Europe= has had Experience of the Distemper for so many Ages; had I not been surprized by the late Attempts of some Physicians in =France= to prove the contrary, even while they have the most undeniable Arguments against them before their Eyes. In particular, I cannot but very much admire to see Dr. =Chicoyneau=, and the other Physicians, who first gave us =Observations= on the =Plague=, when at =Ma.r.s.eilles=, relate in the =Reflections=, they afterwards published upon those Observations, the Case of a Man, who was seized with the =Plague=, upon his burying a young Woman dead of it, when no one else dared to approach the Body; and yet to see them ascribe his Disease, not to his being =infected= by the Woman, but solely to his Grief for the Loss of her, to whom he had made Love, and to a =Diarrhoea=, which had been some time upon him[3]. No question but these concurred to make his Disease the more violent; and perhaps even exposed him to contract the =Infection=: but why it should be supposed, that he was not =infected=, I cannot imagine, when there was so plain an Appearance of it. I am as much at a Loss to find any Colour of Reason for their denying =Infection= in another Case, they relate, of a =young Lady= seized with the =Plague=, upon the sudden Sight of a =PESTILENTIAL TUMOR=, just broke out upon her Maid; not allowing any thing but the Lady's Surprize to be the Cause of her Illness[4].
THE Truth is, these Physicians had engaged themselves in an =Hypothesis=, that the =Plague= was bred at =Ma.r.s.eilles= by a long Use of bad Aliment, and grew so fond of their Opinion, as not to be moved by the most convincing Evidence. And thus it mostly happens, when we indulge Conjectures instead of pursuing the true Course for making Discoveries in Nature.
I KNOW they imagine this their Sentiment to be abundantly confirmed from some Experiments made by Dr. =Deidier=[5] upon the =Bile= taken from Persons dead of the =Plague=: which having been either poured into a Wound made on purpose in different =Dogs=, or injected into their Veins, never failed, in many Trials, to produce in them all the Symptoms of the Pestilence, even the external ones of =Bubo's= and =Carbuncles=.
One Dog, upon which the Experiment succeeded, had been known, for three Months before, to devour greedily the corrupted =Flesh= of infected Persons, and =Pledgets= taken off from =Pestilential Ulcers=, without receiving any Injury. From hence they conclude[6] that this Disease is not communicated by =Contagion=, but originally bred in the Body by the Corruption of the =Bile=. This Corruption, they say, is the Effect of unwholsome Food; and the =Bile= thus corrupted produces a Thickness and a Degree of Coagulation in the Blood, which is the Cause of the =Plague=: Tho' this they allow to be inforced by a bad Season of the Year, and the =Terrors= of Mind and Despair of the Inhabitants.
THESE Experiments are indeed curious, but fall very short of what they are brought to prove. The most that can be gathered from them is this: That =Dogs= do not, at least not so readily, receive =Pestilential Infection= from Men, as Men do from one another: And also, that the =Bile= is so highly corrupted in a Body infected with the =Plague=, that by putting it into the Blood of a =Dog= it will immediately breed the same Disease.
BUT it does not follow from hence, that the =Bile= is the Seat of the Disease, or that other Humors of the Body are not corrupted as well as =this=. I make no question but the whole Ma.s.s of Blood is, in this Case, in a State of Putrefaction; and consequently that all the Liquors derived from it partake of the Taint.
ACCORDINGLY it appeared afterwards from some Experiments made by Dr.
=Couzier=[7], that not only the =Blood=, but even the =Urine= from an infected person, infused into the crural Vein of a Dog communicated the =Plague=. I will venture to affirm, that if, instead of =Bile=, =Blood=, or =Urine=, the =Matter= of the =Ulcers= had been put into a Wound made in the Dog; it would have had at least an equally pernicious Effect: As may well be concluded from the Inoculation of the Small Pox.
AS to the Dog's eating the =corrupted Flesh= and =purulent Matter= of the Patients; it ought to have been considered that there are some Poisons very powerful when mixed immediately with the Blood, which will not operate in the Stomach at all: As in particular the =Saliva= of the mad Dog and the =Venom= of the Viper[8]. And therefore Dr. =Deidier= himself, some Months after his former Experiments, found that =pestiferous Bile= itself was swallowed by Dogs without any Harm[9].
THE right Inference to be made from these Experiments, I think, would have been this: That since the Blood and all the Humors are so greatly corrupted in the Plague, as that Dogs (tho' not so liable to catch the Distemper in the ordinary way of Infection, as Men are) may receive it by a small Quant.i.ty of any of these from a diseased Subject being mixed with their Blood; it may well be supposed, that the =Effluvia= from an infected Person, drawn into the Body of one who is sound, may be pestiferous and productive of the like Disorder.
MY a.s.sertion, that these =French= Physicians have before them the fullest Proofs of this =Infection=, not only appears from these Instances of it, I have observed to be recorded by themselves; but likewise from what Dr. =le Moine= and Dr. =Bailly=[10] have written, of the Manner in which the =Plague= was brought to =Canourgue= in the =Gevaudan=: as also from an amazing Instance they give us of the great Subtilty of this =Poison=, experienced at =Marvejols=: where no less than =sixty= Persons were at once infected in a =Church=, by one that came thither out of an infected House. The =Plague= was carried from =Ma.r.s.eilles= to =Canourgue=, as follows. A =Gally-Slave=, employed in burying the Dead at =Ma.r.s.eilles=, escaped from thence to the Village of =St. Laurent de Rivedolt=, a League distant from =Correjac=: where finding a Kinsman, who belonged to the latter Place, he presented him with a =Waistcoat= and a =pair of Stockings= he had brought along with him. The =Kinsman= returns to his Village, and dies in two or three Days; being followed soon after by =three Children= and their =Mother=.
His =Son=, who lived at =Canourgue=, went from thence, in order to bury the Family; and, at his Return, gave to his =Brother-in-law= a =Cloak= he had brought with him: the =Brother-in-law= laying it upon his Bed, lost a little =Child= which lay with him, in one Day's Time; and two Days after, his Wife; =himself= following in seven or eight. The =Parents= of this unhappy Family, taking Possession of the =Goods= of the Deceased, underwent the same Fate.
ALL this abundantly shews how inexcusable the foresaid Physicians in =France= are, in their opposing the common Opinion that the =Plague= is contagious. However, I have paid so much Regard to them, as to insist the more largely upon the Proof of that =Contagion=; lest the Opinion of those, who have had so much Experience of the Disease, might lead any one into an Error, in an Affair of such Consequence, that all my Precepts relating to =Quarantaines=, and well nigh every particular Part of my Advice, depends upon it: For if this Opinion were a Mistake, =Quarantaines=, and all the like =Means of Defence=, ought to be thrown aside as of no use. But as I continue persuaded, that we have the greatest Evidence, that the =PLAGUE= is a =contagious= Disease; so I have left, without any Alteration, all my Directions in respect to =Quarantaines=: in which, I hope, I have not recommended any Thing =prejudicial to Trade=; my Advice being very little different from what has been long practised in all the =trading= Ports of =Italy=, and in other Places. Nay, were we to be more remiss in this than our Neighbours, I cannot think but the =Fear= they would have of us, must much obstruct our =Commerce=.
BUT I shall pursue this Point no farther: the rather because a very learned Physician among themselves has since, both by strong Reasoning and undeniable Instances, evinced the Reality of =Contagion=[11].
IN a word, the more I consider this Matter, the more I am convinced that the Precepts I have delivered, both with regard to the Preventing the Plague from coming into a Country, and the Treatment of it when present, are perfectly suitable to the Nature of the Distemper, and consequently the fittest to be complied with. But how far, in every Situation of Affairs, it is expedient to grant the =Powers=, requisite for putting all of them in Practice, it is not my proper Business, as a Physician, to determine. No doubt, but at all Times, these =Powers= ought to be so limited and restrained, that they may never endanger the Rights and Liberties of a People. Indeed, as I have had no other View than the Publick Good in this my Undertaking, and the Satisfaction of doing somewhat towards the Relief of Mankind, under the greatest of Calamities; so I should not, without the utmost Concern, see that any Thing of mine gave the least Countenance to Cruelty and Oppression.
BUT I must confess, I find no Reason for any Apprehensions of this kind, from any thing I have advanced. For what extraordinary Danger can there be, in lodging =Powers= for the proper Management of People under the Plague, with a =Council of Health=, or other Magistrates, who shall be accountable, like all other Civil Officers, for their just Behaviour in the Execution of them? Though this I must leave to those, who are better skilled in the Nature of Government. But sure I am, that by the Rules here given, both the =Sick= will be provided for with more Humanity, and the Country more effectually defended against the Progress of the Disease, than by any of the Methods heretofore generally put in Practice, either in our own, or in other Nations.
THE Usage among =Us=, established by =Act of Parliament=, of =Imprisoning= in their Houses every Family the =Plague= seizes on, without allowing any one to pa.s.s in or out, but such as are appointed by Authority, to perform the necessary Offices about the Sick, is certainly the severest Treatment imaginable; as it exposes the whole Family to suffer by the same Disease; and consequently is little less than a.s.signing them over to the cruellest of Deaths: As I have shewn in the Discourse.
THE Methods practised in =France= are likewise obnoxious to great Objections. =Crowding= the Sick together in =Hospitals= can serve to no good Purpose; but instead thereof will =promote= and =spread= the =Contagion=, and besides will expose the Sick to the greatest Hards.h.i.+ps.
It is no small Part of the Misery, that attends this terrible Enemy of Mankind, that whereas moderate Calamities open the Hearts of Men to =Compa.s.sion= and =Tenderness=, this greatest of Evils is found to have the contrary Effect. Whether Men of wicked Minds, through Hopes of Impunity, at these Times of Disorder and Confusion, give their evil Disposition full Scope, which ordinarily is restrained by the Fear of Punishment; or whether it be, that a constant View of Calamities and Distress does so pervert the Minds of Men, as to blot out all Sentiments of Humanity; or whatever else be the Cause: certain it is, that at such Times, when it should be expected to see all Men unite in one common Endeavour, to moderate the publick Misery; quite otherwise, they grow regardless of each other, and Barbarities are often practised, unknown at other Times. Accordingly =Diemerbroek= informs us, that he himself had often seen these =Hospitals= committed to the Charge of Villains, whose Inhumanity has suffered great Numbers to perish by Neglect, and that sometimes they have even smothered such as have been very weak, or have had nauseous Ulcers difficult to cure. Insomuch, that in many Places the Sick have chose to lay themselves in Fields, in the open Air, under the slightest Coverings, rather than to fall into the barbarous Hands of those who have had the Management of these Hospitals[12].