THIS Year was southerly, showery, and perpetually calm, but a greater Drought than ordinary happening some Time before, much Rain fell about the rising of Arcturus with the southerly Winds. The Harvest was gloomy,
Vol. I, p.25cloudy, and very wet: The Wind southerly, wet, and mild; but a considerable while after the Solstice, near the Equinox, the Weather was very severe, and even about the Equinox. Northerly Winds set in, with Snow that lasted not long. The Spring was again southerly and calm, a great deal of Rain fell continually to the Rising of the Dog-Star. The Summer was clear and hot, attended with great suffocating Heats. The Ætefie blew faintly, and by Intervals. About the rising of Arcturus, much Rain fell again, with the Wind northerly. The Year being thus southerly, damp, and mild, the Winter was healthy to all but consumptive People. Early in the Spring, with the cold Weather that then set in, came a great many Erysipelases, some from evident Causes, others unaccountably, of a bad Sort, and fatal to many. Many complained of Pain in their Throats, and Impediments in their Speech, of burning Fevers, with Phrenzies, Apthas in the Mouth, Tubercles in the private Parts, Inflammatians of the Eyes, Carbuncles, Disorders of the Belly, Aversions to Food, with Thirst in some, in others not; turbid Urine in abundance, and of a bad Sort; Comas for the most part, and again Watchings, Crisises not at all in many, or with Difficulty; Dropsies and Consumptions not a few; Fevers, Tertians, Quartans, Nocturnals, Continuals, Chronicals, ErraticsLarge boulders carried sometimes hundreds of miles across land by ice., Inconstants, &c. The burning Fevers and Phrensies began early in the Spring, and a great Number were laid up with them, after the cold Weather that hadVol. I, p.26happened; they were very acute and mortal. At the beginning of the Fever, they Were troubled With Comas, Nausea, Horrors, acute Fevers, but little Thirst, and no Delirium. They also bled a little at the Nose, and the Paroxysms for most part Were upon equal Days. About the Time of the Fit came on Loss of Me mory, great Languidness and Loss of Speech. The Fingers and Toes were always cold, but much more so about the Paroxysms, and the Warmth returned again slowly and imperfectly. They came to themselves again, and spoke, but either a continual Coma, without Sleeb, Was upon them, or painful Watchings. A great many were troubled with crude thin Stools in abundance. The Urine was plentiful and thin, without any thing critical or beneficial in it; nor did anything also of the critical kind happen to those who were thus affected, for they had neither a good Hæmorrhage, nor any critical Separation of what is usual to pass off, but every one died in a vague and uncertain Manner, about the Time of the Crisis, for most Part; some held out a longer Time, but died at last, without speaking, and many sweating. Thus the Case was among those who were mortally ill; and there was but little Difference in the Phrenzies; for they were entirely without Thirst or Madness, as in other Phrenzies, but were seized with a kind of stupid Delirium, and died with the Heaviness upon them. Apthas and Ulcers in the Mouth were frequent, and great Fluxes in the private Parts, with Ulcerations, TuberclesVol. I, p.27outwardly and inwardly; Swellings in the groin, humid Inflammations of the Eyes, of long Duration and painful; besides little Tumours upon the Eye-lids, outwardly and inwardly that destroyed the Sight in many; the like happened upon other Ulcers, and upon the private Parts. There were also Carbuncles in the Summer, and other large Pustles of the putrid kind; many large Herpeses or Tetters, and sundry Complaints in the Belly, that did much harm: For first, many were seized with a painful Tenesmus, especially Children, and those under the Age of Puberty, most of whom died. Many had painful Lienteries and Dysenteries; the Discharges were bilious, fat, thin and watry. In many the Distemper took this Turn, sometimes with, sometimes without a Fever. There were likewise cruel Gripings and Twistings of the Guts, with intolerable Pain. Many Things suppressed in the Body were let out, but these Discharges did not carry off the Pains. What was given them met with great Difficulty, for Purges were injurious to most. Many of those thus affected died soon, others held out longer. All that were ill, whether of acute or chronical Complaints, died chiefly of Disorders of the Belly, as that was the general Receiver of all. In all these Disorders everybody loathed Food. Either in Fevers or other Disorders none drank immoderately, but only as they were directed. The Urine was vastly more than in Proportion to what they drank: It was of a very bad Sort, neither thick nor digested,Vol. I, p.28nor was the Body cleansed by it, it rather implied Corruption or Colliquation, Disorder, Pains, and the want of a Crisis. Comas happened chiefly in the Phrensies and burning Fevers, nor were other capital Diseases without them, where a Fever attended; but in many a heavy Coma followed, or little and gentle Sleeps all the Time. As to the other above epidemical Fevers, viz. Tertians, Quartans, &c. they all brought great Uneasinesses with them; for in most the Belly was disturbed, Horrors came on, and Sweats that were not critical; the Urine was as above described. Many of them were likewise tedious, the Abscesses that happened here not proving critical, as at other Times. The Crises were also universally difficult, and sometimes not at all, or proved very tedious, especially to these a few of them were determined in about eighty Days, but to the greatest Part they went off at Random; a few of these died of a Dropsy, without being confined to their Beds. Many were affected with Tumours that came upon other Diseases, especially Consumptions; for the greatest, most difficult, and most fatal, was the Consumption: Many of these, beginning in the Winter, obliged a great Number to keep their Beds, while some of them walked about Early in the Spring, most of the Bed-rids died and none of the rest got rid of their Coughs. They abated indeed in Summer, but in the Autumn they were laid up, many died, and most were ill a long Time. The greatestVol. I, p.29Number of these began to be extremely ill presently after these Complaints, and had frequent Horrors, continual acute Fevers very often, and unseasonable Sweats. Many were cold continually; the Cold was great too, and they could hardly get warm again. The Belly was bound many Ways, and presently again became humid, all that oppressed the Lungs passing downward. A great deal of Urine was made, but not good, bad Colliquations appeared, Coughs were frequent all along, and much came away digested and moist, and with tolerable Ease: But if they were a little in Pain, the Discharge from the Lungs was then very gentle in all. The Throat was not much affected with acrid, nor did salt Humours do any Harm. What came from the Head was viscid, moist and frothy: But the greatest Evil of all, in these and other Cases, was a Dislike to Food, nor were they thirsty. The Body was heavy and comatose, several swelled, were dropsical, full of Fear, delirious at last; these who fell into Consumptions, were the smooth, the whitish, the lentil-coloured, the reddish, the gray-eyed, the leuophlegmatic, and those whose Shoulders stuck up behind. Nor did Women of these kinds escape. The Melancholick and the Sanguine suffered too. These were affected with burning Fevers, Phrenzies, and Dysenteries; the young Men with Tenesmuses; the Flegmatic with long Diarrheas; the Bilious with sharp and fat Purgings. In all the above-mentioned, the Spring was the most troublesome and fatal to a great many;Vol. I, p.30the Summer was easiest and least fatal; but in Harvest, and during the Pleiades, a great many died of Quartans.
In Cranon in the Summer were Carbuncles. It rained very much during the excessive Heats and continually, but more with the southerly Winds. Under the Skin were thin sharp Humours, which being confined, grew lot, and caused an Itching, after which the Pustle broke out, like what comes on a burnt Part and occasioned a Sense of Burning underneath.
They were thus affected in the Quinsie, the Vertebra of the Neck were turned inward, more or less, leaving a manifest Cavity outward, and the Neck was painful in touching it: It was also somewhat lower than the Process called the Tooth, (or second Vertebra) and not altogether so acute: In some it was evident by the Greatness of the Circumference; but the Throat was not inflamed, except the second Vertebra, but subsided. The Parts under the Jaws swelled, but not as when inflamed, nor were the Glands at all inflamed, but in their natural State. The Tongue indeed could not easily be stirred, but seemed larger, and more prominent, and the Veins under it full. They either could not swallow or it was with great Difficulty; and if Violence was used, the Liquor returned by the Nose, through which Part the Voice also came. The Breathing caused no great Elevation of the Shoulders. In some the Veins, in the Temples, Head and Neck, were tumefied; andVol. I, p.31in these, where the Pains were renewed and augmented, the Temples grew a little hot, yet not feverish otherwise. The greatest Part were free from Suffocation, except they attempted to swallow somewhat, nor did their Eyes sink at all. Where the Tumour affected neither Side, but came directly forward, all recovered, and none became paralytick. Some got better in a short Time, but the greatest Part continued forty Days, yet without a Fever. Some kept the Relick of the Tumour a long Time after, as appeared from their Swallowing and Voice. The wasting of the Uvula was a Proof that the Distemper was not quite gone off, tho' nothing seemed bad about them; where the Tumour appeared sideways, a Palsy followed in the Part from whence the Vertebræ inclined, and they were drawn on one Side. These were most evident in the Face, Mouth, and Septum of the Uvula; the lower Jaws were also changed in Proportion. The Palsies did not affect the whole Body as in other Cases, but stopped at the Hand of the Quinsie Side. What they spit was digested, and a Hoarseness followed; they also spit where the Tumour was direct; but where a Fever attended there the Difficulty of Breathing was much greater; the Spittle could not be contained in speaking, and the Veins were more tumefied. The Feet were remarkably cold, and those who died not immediately, could not stand upright; but such as he knew, all died.
Coughs began the 15th or 20th Day, about the Winter Solstice, from the frequentVol. I, p.32changing of the southerly and northerly Winds, and snowy Weather; some lasted but a short Time, others longer, and were succeeded by Peripneumonies in Abundance. Many had a Return before the Equinox, mostly 40 Days from the Beginning. In some they were short, and went off well; in others, Inflammations of the Throat, Quinsies, Palsies, and Nyctolopia happened, chiefly in Children. The Peripneumonies were very short, but the Inflammation of the Throat came at last after coughing, or held them a small Time in room of the Cough; these were of short Duration, especially the Nyctolopia; but the Quinsies and Palsies were either hard, dry, or little, and seldom attended with digested Spittle, some expectorated much. Such as spoke much, or fell into a Shivering, a Quinsie was mostly the Consequence; or if they used their Hands much, they only were paralytick; if they rode or walked much, or used their Legs much, the paralytick Weakness fell on the Loins or Legs, with Weakness and Pain in the Thighs or Shins. The hardest and most vehement Coughs were such as ended in Palsies ; the same Things happened in the Relapses, tho' not much in the Beginning. In many they remitted about the Middle, but did not leave them entirely, and appeared again at the Return. Where the Voice was broke with coughing, there the most escaped a Fever, and some only had it little. Neither Peripneumonies nor Palsies, nor anything else,Vol. I, p.33appeared in this Case, but the Crisis Was determined by the Voice only. The Disorder of the Eyes, which affected Children most, was as from a common Cause, the black of the Eye had a great Variety, where the Pupils Were small, but in short it was generally black. The Eyes were rather large than small, and the Hair streight and black. Women were not so harassed with coughing, but a few had Fevers, whereof very few came to Peripneumonies, and these of the elderly sort, all whereof recovered, for they were neither so soon infected, nor went so much abroad. Quinsies were both severest and most mortal among the Slaves. Several Men were also seized, whereof some died, others recovered; such as could drink, had it mildly and easily; such as could not speak distinctly, had it both worse and more tediously. Where the templar and jugular Veins were swelled, they were somewhat bad; they that heaved their Shoulders in breathing, were very bad, for they grew hot also. He tried bleeding, purging, and some Vomits, but without much Success. These Things always happened in Summer, as did other Things of the eruptive kind; as did Ophthalmias in a great Drought. Swellings of the Glands were likewise common, for the Liver was inflamed and out of Order.