108 PHILOSOPHICAL TKANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1764. 



to the carbuncles for some days, to cool them ; and when they begin to 

 separate, they apply a digestive of Chio turpentine with the yolk, of an egg. 

 They apply nothing to the blains and petechial spots, which appear and disap- 

 pear again on any part of the body every 3 or 4 days. All this time they give 

 the sick no medicines, besides Venice treacle for the poor, and some doses of 

 bezoar ibr such as can afford to pay for it ; and they never can be persuaded to 

 change their method; for when Sir J. Porter gave them Doctor James's 

 powder, they never tried what effect it might have. 



Dr. M. was of opinion that all antiphlogistics should be used before the 



eruptions ; and all alexipharmics and antiseptics after them ; more particularly 



camphire, and some doses of bark always in the remissions of the fever ; and 



blisters ought to be of great use in the sleepy and stupid plague, for rousing the 



animal spirits, and for giving them some motion : but they are never usied at 



Constantinople ; and, as they live by custom, it is impossible to prevail upon 



them to change it. As to preservatives, he thinks the best is to remove from 



the infected persons and houses, and to keep at a proper distance for many days 



from them. Some are of opinion, that fire preserves from the plague, and 



purges the air ; from whom he begs leave to differ ; for he had remarked that 



cooks and cooks' mates, who were always near the fire, suffered more by the 



plague than any other set of people in proportion to their number. Besides the 



fire enlivens and gives energy to the poisonous effluvia lodgetl about them, 



which otherwise might die and disperse in the open air, if exposed sufficiently 



to it. Fire also opens the pores, relaxes the fibres ; and, as the hot weather 



propagates the plague, fire should do the same more or less ; and for the same 



reason he imagines that all perfumes must be of very little service. The next 



best preservative he takes to be moderation, and a diet of such meats as are of 



easy digestion, of a rich balsamic quality, and capable of producing a rich and 



generous blood. It is also a great preservative to be under no apprehension, 



and to guard as much as possible against dismal thoughts and imaginations on 



such occasions. 



1748. The plague began the 10th of May and ended in November. 



1749. It began the l6th of March, and ended the '20th of October. 



1750. It began April 21, and ended September 1 7 . 



1751. It began May 15, and continued till the end of September J732. 

 1753. It began May 31, and continued till Sept. 17, 1754. 



1755. It began in June, but there was very little plague all this year. 



1756. It began March the 6th, and ended the I'ith of December. 



1758. Then there was none till April 23, 1758, which ended in October. 



1759. It began April 4th, and ended about the 10th of Septernber. 



1760. It began April the 24th and ended the lOth of November. 



