A treatise on the plague and yellow fever : with an appendix, containing histories of the plague at Athens in the time of the Peloponnesian War ; at Constantinople in the time of Justinian ; at London in 1665 ; at Marseilles in 1720 ; &c. / by James Tytler, compiler of the medical part of the Encyclopaedia Britannica ; published according to act of Congress.

  • James Tytler
Date:
1799
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the plague and yellow fever : with an appendix, containing histories of the plague at Athens in the time of the Peloponnesian War ; at Constantinople in the time of Justinian ; at London in 1665 ; at Marseilles in 1720 ; &c. / by James Tytler, compiler of the medical part of the Encyclopaedia Britannica ; published according to act of Congress. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    Cl the aflaffin or ravilhcr in the confummatlon of his crimes. Whether the world hath been in the fame predicament ever fince the human race began to multiply, or whe- ther plagues have originated at fome remote period, is a queilion not eafily determined. It is certain that, as far as hiftories go, they give us accounts of plagues -, much tefs frequent indeed in very ancient times than in thofe which followed j but the compafs of hiftorical knowledge is narrow. There are no authentic hiftories of any nation previous to the termination of thofe of the Old Teftamcnt. Where facred hiftory ends, pro- fane hiftory begins. The fabulous period affords many accounts of wars, heroes, giants, and monflers, but fcarce any of plagues. Diodorus Siculus indeed makes mention of a plague which happened in Greece, after the flood of Deucalion ; and which, he fays, was occa- sioned by the general corruption of vegetables, &o. confequent on the flood. Deucalion's flood is fuppo- fed to have been nearly cotemporary with the depar- ture of the Ifraelites from Egypt; fo that, it there is any truth in the relation of Diodorus, it is not impro- bable that fome of the Egyptian plagues might have fpread into Greece. We are Jikewife told of a pefti- ]encc at Athens in the time of Thefeus;* but all the accounts of thefe times are (o uncertain, and fo much involved in fable, that little or no dependence can be placed on any of them. The firft diflinct account we have of plagues of any kind, then, is in the book of Exodus, where we are told of many heavy judgments fent upon the Egyptians becaufe of their difobedience. Before this, indeed, we read of plagues fent on the king of Egy-pt, for having taken Abraham's wife ; but as thefe fell only upon the king and his houfehold, we cannot fuppofe any thing like a general peftUence to have taken place among the people. In like manner did it happen to Abimelech, king of Gerar, on the fame account. All the women belonging to the king's houfehold were rendered barren