Vol. XXVI.] PHILOSOPHICAL TKANSACTIONS. 457 



Both old men and women were troubled with such violent fluxes, that the 

 weakest died under them ; but if they had strength enough to withstand them, 

 they were soon cured. 



Some of these patients were so costive, that they never could go to stool, 

 without taking some clysters. And some of them had such large swellings 

 over all their bodies, their hands, arms and feet, that they seemed to have been 

 blown up. But many were cured by proper medicines, clysters, and sweetening 

 juleps. A youth of 10 years of age, had his gums much swelled, and ulcerated; 

 his teeth were eaten to the very roots, and his breath was intolerably stinking. 

 The surgeon was obliged to pull out all his teeth, for the better dressing of his 

 mouth, though they would have fallen out of themselves : his gums were healed 

 but a tumour arose on the side of his tongue as large as a walnut, in the middle 

 of which was a bluish hole, which degenerated into an ulcer, which eat up half 

 the tumour, the other half remained whole and entire. Some short time after, 

 there appeared another tumour in the cheek, which was very hard : it was blue 

 in the middle, and turned to an ulcer also as the first. This youth died sud- 

 denly, and when least expected; all the inward parts of his body were 

 mortified. 



All those who died suddenly, without having any visible cause of their death, 

 had the auricles of their heart, as large as one's fist, and full of coagulated 

 blood, which stopping the circulation of the blood, caused inevitable death. 

 Several patients had on their cheeks a small white ulcer, which was hard all 

 round ; unless we took care to stop it presently, and to take it off with the 

 spirit of vitriol, it soon grew livid or blue, black and stinking, and eat up 

 part of the cheek, so that one might see the teeth through it. Several from 

 the age of 18 to 30, who were without pain, dropped down stupid and motion- 

 less, with their mouths open, their eyes sunk in, their looks frightful, and ap- 

 pearing rather like statues than men. All these persons had no apparent sick- 

 ness, only their gums were ulcerated ; their skin was smooth and fair, without 

 any spots or hardness : yet their muscles were gangrened, and all wet with a 

 black corrupted blood, and in handling them they fell to pieces. 



One patient had a carbuncle on his instep ; his lips and his nostrils were 

 chopped ; and a stinking water flowed gently from the latter. He lingered out 

 a long time and then died. His body made me afraid, so that I durst not open 

 it. A young man, who to all outward appearance seemed not to be very ill, 

 died suddenly. We found his pericardium so eaten up, that there remained but 

 a little of it ; and his heart was ulcerated all about very deeply. 



Scorbutic persons are commonly better in summer, than in winter ; which 

 may be owing to their great perspiration. On the contrary, these were in- 



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