But the great plague of London did
not begin until 1664. In this plague the patient at first became
sensible of great weariness and fatigue, had slight chills,
nausea, vomiting, vertigo, and pains in the loins. The mental
disturbance rapidly increased, and stupor and delirium ensued.
The face was alternately flushed and pallid, and a sense of
constriction was experienced in the region of the heart. Darting
pains were felt all over the body, soon followed by the
enlargement of the lymphatic glands, or by the formation of
carbuncles in various parts of the body. About the third day the
tongue became dry and brown, and the gums, tongue, and teeth were
covered with a dark fur, and the excretions became offensive;
paralysis intervened; ecchymosed patches or stripes due to
extravasation appeared on the skin; finally the pulse sank, the
body grew cold and clammy, delirium or coma seized the victim,
and in five or six days, sometimes in two or three, the painful
struggle was at an end.
It was supposed that the disease originated in the Orient and was
brought to London from Holland. In his "Journal of the Plague in
London" Defoe describes its horrors, and tells of the dead-cart
which went through the streets gathering the victims.
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