Loimologia: Or, an Historical Account of the Plague in London in 1665. John Quincy
any one pleases to trace it further, he may be satisfied by common Fame, it came thither from Turkey in Bails of Cotton or Silk, which is a strange Preserver of the pestilential Steams. For that Part of the World is seldom free from such Infections, altho’ it is sometimes more severe than others, according to the Disposition of Seasons and Temperature of Air in those Regions: But if any would yet more intimately be acquainted with its Origin, it concerns him to know all the Changes the Air in these Climates is subject to, and its various Properties of Dryness, Moisture, Heat, Cold, &c.
BUT least I should be thought too prolix in the Enumeration of such Circumstances, and incur the Suspicion of Atheism, (a Charge too just upon the Faculty) by ascribing too much to second Causes, as the Schools please to call them, it may be convenient for me to declare, that the το θειον of a Pestilence is as much a Part of my Faith, as any others; the sacred Pages clearly and demonstratively prove, that the Almighty, by his Authority, and at his Pleasure, may draw the Sword, bend the Bow, or shoot the Arrows of Death; and a Retrospection into Times past, shews many convincing Proofs of this terrible Truth; and in this Contagion before us, the Footsteps of an over-ruling Power are very legible, especially so far as concerns his divine Permission: But the great God’s Purposes are Secrets too awful for Mortals to pry into, although we know that he punishes as a Parent, and chides for our Good, which makes it our Duty to kiss the Rod, and submit. But enough of this, least I should be thought to invade anothers Province; and it is sufficient to the Purpose of a Physician, to assign natural and obvious Causes; and where such are discoverable, it is unworthy of him and the divine Art he professes, as well as an Affront to good Sense, to have Recourse to any other.
BUT this being premised only to prevent Censure, our Way now lies open to a Discovery of the Nature of this Pestilence. Wherein, for Method Sake, I shall begin with a Description of a Pestilence in general; and which if it doth not exactly agree with the Accounts given by the Ancients, yet I doubt not but it will be found by every impartial Considerer, to be as full and satisfactory.
THE Pestilence is a Disease arising from an Aura that is poisonous, very subtle, deadly, and contagious, affecting many Persons at the same Time together in one Country, chiefly arising from a Corruption of the nitrous Spirit in the Air, attended with a Fever, and other very grievous Symptoms.
EVERY one of these Particulars are as clear as the Light at Noon-day; and these Explications are so obvious to be met with in the Writings of the Learned, that it would be lost Labour to insist upon any such Thing here; we shall therefore proceed to explain only what more immediately stands in need of it.
AND first of all it is said from an Aura, as distinguishing it from such Poison as is more gross and earthy; for this is not to be confined in any Inclosure, but is so rare, subtle, volatile, and fine, that it insinuates into, and resides in the very Interstices, or Pores of the aerial Particles; whereas that which is of a more fixed Nature, is confined within certain Limits, and is incapable of such Progress.
IT is said to be poisonous also, from its Similitude to the Nature of a Poison, and both being equally destructive to Life, and killing Persons much after the same Manner, so that they seem to differ in Degree only; for the deadly Quality of a Pestilence vastly exceeds either the arsenical Minerals, the most poisonous Animals or Insects, or the killing Vegetables; nay, the Pestilence seems to be a Composition of all the other Poisons together, as well as in its fatal Efficacies to excel them, for in this there is manifestly joined both the Height of Putrefaction and Malignity. And as in a great man the Virulence of this Taint hath been discoverable, so in one Youth for Instance it was so remarkable, that even in the Point of Death the whole Body changed green, which so alarmed the Mother, that she immediately hasted to my House, to know whether by Mistake there had not been some Poison given him; whereas he had taken nothing but mild and common Alexipharmicks; this green Hue therefore was a Demonstration of the poisonous Vitriolick Nature of the pestilential Taint.
IT is said to be very subtile both on Account of its Original and Production, before it hath escaped from its native Seat; and that wonderful Comminution which it cannot but undergo in its Progress through so many Climates, whereby it is, as it were, sublimed to the highest Degree of Volatility, beyond that of any Meteor, which is the Production of gross, corporeal, and heterogeneous Particles; nay, it is more active than Lightning, and in the Twinkling of an Eye carries to a Distance Putrefaction, Mortification, and Death.
AS for the Manner whereby it kills, its approaches are generally so secret, that Persons seized with it seem to be fallen into an Ambuscade, or a Snare, of which there was no Manner of Suspicion; they are therefore not to be credited or regarded, who affirm the Progress of a Pestilence to be sensible, even to the Smell and Sight, and report (though who will may believe them for me) the Infection to resemble the Fragrancy of Flowers in May, or any other sweet Savour; or, on the contrary, to strike the Nose like the Stench of a rotten Carcase; nay, some pretend to be so sharp-sighted, as to discern Clouds in the Atmosphere big with pestilential Poysons, and other such Conceits of a distempered Imagination, that are chiefly the Products of Fear, which construes every Thing for the worst: Although indeed I must confess, that sometimes this very subtile Aura may be so mixed or loaded with gross and sulphureous Particles, as to be perceptible to the Senses.
FURTHER, as to the fatal Influences of a Plague, if the before recited Account is not sufficient to shew it, it would not be a Task of any Difficulty to produce many Instances of its Tyranny and Destruction: Hence the Plague by the Hebrews was called לבד, or Perdition; as if it was ordained on Purpose to destroy Mankind: It is also called Lues, from λυω, to dissolve, a most certain Way of Destruction, and whose fatal Property in the Plague is most remarkable, whereby it does not so much prepare the Way, as immediately of its self destroy, and of whose certain Ruin, through whole Regions together, we have too many Testimonies upon Record, in the Writings both of Ancients and Moderns.
AGAIN, the Pestilence is said to be contagious; because some are come to that Height of Boldness, (being blind with too much Light) to propagate strange Conjectures to the contrary, as if the late Plague was begun and continued by a foreign Influence; but to remove this Controversie, it may be convenient to explain the Nature of a Contagion, and its supposed Conditions of Exertion; but before I enter upon this, it will be necessary to dispatch the other Members of this Definition.
IT is further added, that the Plague affects many Regions together at the same Time, in Order to distinguish it both from Endemick Diseases, that is, such as are appropriate to one Place only; and also from Sporadick Diseases, which although they rage amongst the Populace in this or that Country or Climate indifferently, according to the Influence of their procatarctick Causes, they are yet to be deemed particular, as well as they are pernicious: But enough of these Matters.
AT length then it becomes necessary to change the Consideration, and enquire how it comes that the Plague hath its chief Origin from a Change or Corruption of the nitrous Spirits in the Air: This is the great Difficulty! This is our Task! It is therefore to be hoped that the Novelty of the Opinion will not occasion any one to receive it at first Sight amiss, until by due Examination he hath brought it to Trial; but in Order to erect this upon a sure Foundation, it is proper to premise some Considerations.
AND first of all, the central nitrous Spirit does every where transpire and exhale towards the Surface, to recruit the Consumptions of Nature, and for other Purposes hereafter to be mentioned. From this saline Origin straining through the Bowels of the Earth, it is by every one understood Vegetation is carried on; and that the Light and vital Warmth of the Sun is impregnated by it through the whole Region of Air; and the mutual Intercourses or Operations upon one another between the Sun’s Rays, and these saline Exhalations, by a Kind of Magnetism between them, is too obvious in a Multitude of Instances to want any Comment.
I know in nothing indeed where there is a greater Intercourse and Sympathy; and a considerable Illustration of which may be made by the following Experiment. If any one in the Spring-time, when the Sun is approaching nearer to us, digs up a Piece of Earth, and after Infusion and Filtration, evaporates the Liquor, he will find at the Bottom of the Vessel a Sixth Part of Salt more than at any other Time of the Year, from the same Quantity of Earth