PATHOLOGY. 
under thefe circumftances, efpecially as this body of 
troops is defcribed by a contemporary hiftorian (Philip 
de Comines) as the moft wretched he had ever beheld ; col- 
ledred, it is probable, from jails and hofpitals, and bu¬ 
ried in filth. The mod general opinion at the time, how¬ 
ever, certainly appears to have been, that it arofe from 
i'ome peculiar ftate of the atmofphere, and was propaga¬ 
ted by contagion ; but no writer has diltinftly pointed 
out the connexion of this or of any other epidemic 
with a fpecific condition of the air, nor detedfed any pe¬ 
culiarity in the circumftances attending its fil'd appear¬ 
ance, or fubfequent returns. 
The fweating-ficknefs broke out in England four dif¬ 
ferent times after this, but at unequal intervals. The 
fummer feafon was always the period of its commence¬ 
ment, and it continued rife from three to five months. 
It appeared during the fummer of 1506; and again in 
7517, from July to the middle of December; when it 
raged with peculiar violence, proving fatal in the courfe 
of three hours; extending its havock to many of the no¬ 
bility, and carrying off, in many towns, half the inha¬ 
bitants. Its next recurrence was in 1528; at which 
time, though it was fomewhat lefs fatal, many ot the 
courtiers of Henry VIII. fell viftims to it, and that mo¬ 
narch himfelf was in danger. Eellay, bifhop of Bayonne, 
then ambaflador in England, who was affedled with it, 
reports, that of 40,000 perfons attacked with it in Lon¬ 
don, only 2000 died. The lad time that it vifited Eng¬ 
land was in 1551, when its fatality was fo great, that in 
Wedminder 120 died of it in a day, and among others, 
the two fons of Charles Brandon, both dukes of Suffolk. 
In Shrewfbury, particularly, according to the tedimony 
of Dr. Caius, who refided in that city, 960 died within 
a few days. The diforder had alfo, in the mean time, been 
defolating many parts of the continent. "In 1529 it fird 
fltowed itfelf in Holland, and thence fpread to the Nether¬ 
lands, and to Germany, dedroying a great number of 
lives. It is dated to have interrupted a conference at 
Marpurg between Luther and Zuinglius, about the eu- 
charid. From the defcription which Wierus has given us 
of this epidemic, as it appeared in Germany, it leems to 
have commenced with a violent cold dage and fiiivering, 
which continued half an hour or more, accompanied with 
great pains in the region of the diaphragm and groin, 
and the other fymptoms already mentioned as charafler- 
izing the difeafe, when obferved in England. Swelling 
and diffnefs of the hands at the beginning of the attack, 
and vomiting of black blood or bile, are alfo noticed by 
this author in particular. Erafmus, an eye-witnefs of its 
devaluations, defcribesit in very forcible terms, v vifum 
ed ax amne Phlegetoneo emifi'um hoc malum.” 
Thisdifeafe has been defcribed by various writers under 
the names of fudor Avglicus, ephemera Brit.annica, ephe¬ 
mera fudatoria, RydronoJ'ns, and hydropyrctos. It appears 
from their accounts to have fpared no age or condition, 
but to have attacked more efpecially perfons in high 
health, of middle age, and of better rank and condition. 
The invafion of the difeafe was exceedingly fudden, and 
was marked by the affection offome particular part, pro¬ 
ducing thefenfation of intenfe heat, extending through 
the limb, atid afterwards diffufing itfelf over the whole 
body. This was immediately followed by profufe fweat- 
ing, which generally continued more or lei's through the 
whole courfe of the difeafe, and was attended with infa- 
tiable thirft. Extreme reltleflhefs, head-ache, delirium, 
naufea, cardialgia, and an irrefiftible properifity to jleep, 
chara&erized itsprogrefs; together with great proftration 
of ftrength, producing frequent fainting, and irregula¬ 
rity in the aflion of the heart, which fometimes palpi¬ 
tated violently, while at other times the pulfe was weak 
and fluttering. In this way the patient was carried off 
frequently in two, three, or four, hours from the erup¬ 
tion of the fweat. Thofe more efpecially who bore their 
Jufterings with impatience, and who fought relief from 
the fenfe of heat, by which they were tormented, by ex- 
Vql. XIX. No. 1299. 
223 
pofing their bodies to the air, or even by putting their 
arms out of bed, were often fuddenly ftruck with death. 
The fweat, when promoted, is represented as being un- 
ufually clammy, as well as abundant, and as having a 
very ftrong and peculiarly fetid odour. The violence of 
the attack generally fubfided in fifteen hours, yet the pa¬ 
tient was not out of danger till the expiration of twenty- 
four hours. 
For a long time phyficians were at a lofs how to treat 
this new and Angular malady. The fatal effedfs of expo- 
fure to cold, however, fuggefted the propriety of accumu¬ 
lating heat round the patient, with a view of promoting 
the fweat, which appeared fo manifeftly to be a critical 
difcharge. The moment a perfon was feized with the 
fymptoms of the difeafe, he was to lie down immedi¬ 
ately in bed, without taking off his clothes, and to be 
completely covered, all but the face, with bed-clothes; 
in which fituation he was to remain perfectly ftili, not 
ftirring a limb, if pofiible, nor putting a hand out of bed, 
He was enjoined abltinence from food during the whole 
twenty-four hours, and even from drink the firft five 
hours : then a little ale or beer, or wine and water, was 
to be given in fmall portions, and fucked through a 
fpout, the patient ftili lying in the fame pofture. At the 
expiration of about fourteen hours, the bed-clothes were 
gradually to be removed, and the fweating reftrained ; 
and, after it was quite over, proper food was to be given 
to recruit the exhaufted ftrength. This was the procefs 
when the fweat flowed fpontaneoufly : when this was not 
the cafe, attempts were made to excite it, fuch as by dry 
and warm frictions, wine, aromatics, vinegar - whey, 
China-root, and other fudorific medicines. By this me¬ 
thod of 'praftice, actively purfued, and properly adapted 
to the circumftances, we are told that the difeafe, though 
fo fatal when neglefted or mifmanaged, was got over 
with a tolerable certainty of fuccefs; fo that, according 
to the obfervations of lord Bacon, who has given us a 
lltort account of it in his Hiftory of Henry VII. it might 
be looked upon “ rather as a furprife of nature, than 
obftinate to remedies.” Great ftrefs is laid by fome phy¬ 
ficians on the danger of indulging the propenfity to deep 
which accompanies the paroxyfin. “If they were fuf- 
fered to fleep,” fays Cogan, “ commonly they fwooned, 
and fo departed, or elfe immediately upon their waking.” 
(Haven of Health, p. 262.) It appeared, however, from 
the teftimony of the continental phyficians efpecially, 
that much harm, and frequently fatal confequences, 
arofe from the extremes to which the hot regimen was 
carried. 
Dr. Willan, in his publication on cutaneous difeafes, 
has thrown out a fuggeftion concerning the origin of this 
affection, which he fuppofes might have been owing to 
fome difeafe or depravation in wheat, or to fome noxious 
vegetable growing with it in particular fituations. This 
idea feems to have been fuggefted by fome analogy to be 
traced between the fatal epidemic, called feu facre, feu 
St. Antoine, mal des ardens, See. which is fuppofed to have 
originated from eating rye damaged by a parafitic plant, 
conftituting the diforder in corn termed by the French 
ergot; and it was alleged, that the inhabitants of Wales 
and Scotland who fed on barley or oat bread, were not 
attacked. This opinion appears, however, to be unte¬ 
nable, and has been ably combated in a paper in the 
Edinburgh Medical Journal, vol. iv. p. 464. 
In a curious and fcarce book, called the Touchftone of 
Complexions, firft printed in 1633, we have the opinion 
of Dr. Ltevinus Lemnius, the famous German philofo- 
pher, who vifited this country at the beginning of tire 
16th century, as to.why the fweating-ficknefs fliould 
prevail here more than elfewhere. It will be feen by the 
following extradl, that we have been long and commonly 
regarded by foreigners as a gluttonous nation. “ The 
ephemera, or diaria, is the fweating-ficknefs, which, be- 
caufe it began in England, is called the Englijh fweat. 
Why this difeafe is termed by the name of the Englilh 
