The nose half a foot long, shaped like a beak, filled with perfume with only two holes, one on each side near the nostrils, but that can suffice to breathe and carry along with the air one breathes the impression of the enclosed further along in the beak. He describes it as follows, referenced by Christian Mussap in his journal: Charles d’Lorme, a French physician, came up with the design around 1630. The title of plague doctor has existed since at least the early 14th century (we’ll be exploring a specific case a little later) but the outfit we know wasn’t devised until around the 17th century. There was little recourse but to hope you wouldn’t be next to be struck down. Medical practitioners at the time were wholly unprepared for such a virulent disease and no contemporary treatments were effective against it. With symptoms ranging from a high fever, lumps around the armpits and legs, vomiting and painful spasms, death usually followed in 5 days. The disease itself made a number of comebacks over the years, most notably in the 1600s. The Plague, or the Black Death, first struck Western Europe in 1348 and is believed to have wiped out around 50% of the world’s population at the time. Before we go into the individuals themselves, it would do well to remind ourselves about the profession they held and what they were up against. It’s not known whether or not they wore the distinctive outfit that is typically seen to mark their station, but they definitely held the title from what documents indicate. For this post, we’re going to be looking at three different accounts of plague doctors that have survived in historical documentation. They lived and died, put themselves at great personal risk to carry out their duties, much like any doctor would today. Some even believe that they didn’t actually exist and are something that has been over exaggerated in popular media. Men dressed in dark robes and beaked masks, here to confirm what will be, for most, a tortuously painful death from which there is almost no escape. Sounds nutty to our modern selves, maybe, but those who stayed to treat their dying patients knew their own chances of survival were poor, and still did the best they could.With their rather bizarre appearance and sinister connotations, plague doctors tend to be seen as a single, nebulous entity. Others tried rubbing things on the boils, like pigeon and snake parts, onions, or herbs. According to the BBC, doctors tried giving their patients drinks of vinegar, 10-year-old treacle, and minerals like mercury. (No reports of singing lessons for harmony, though it probably wouldn't have worked.) There was even a belief that plague was caused by stiff air, so ringing bells and letting birds fly around was another practice. Doctors tried blood-letting, lancing boils, burning herbs, and bathing in rosewater or vinegar. The medical community was still governed by the ancient Greek idea that illness was caused by an imbalance in the body's humors, so other cures were focused on trying to get everything back in harmony. The flagellants whipped themselves to show how sorry they were, but it didn't help. According to Rachel Hajar, MD, of Qatar's Heart Hospital, the Catholic Church's belief that God sent illness to punish the sinners of the world led to people trying to cure themselves by prayer, pilgrimage, and even self-harm. They tried all kinds of cures rooted in the most serious beliefs of the time.
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