Epidemics (1.2.4-1.2.6)

In Thasos early in autumn occurred unseasonable wintry storms, suddenly with many north and south winds bursting out into rains. These conditions continued until the setting of the Pleiades and during their season. Winter was northerly; many violent and abundant rains; snows; generally there were fine intervals. With all this, however, the cold weather was not exceptionally unseasonable. But immediately after the winter solstice, when the west wind usually begins to blow, there was a return of severe wintry weather, much north wind, snow and

The whole year having been wet, cold and northerly, in the winter the public health in most respects was good, but in early spring many, in fact most, suffered illnesses. Now there began at first inflammations of the eyes, marked by rheum, pain, and unconcocted discharges. Small gummy sores, in many cases causing distress when they broke out; the great majority relapsed, and ceased late on the approach of autumn. In summer and autumn dysenteric diseases, tenesmus and lientery; bilious diarrhœa, with copious, thin, crude, smarting stools; in some cases it was also watery. In many cases there were also painful, bilious defluxions, watery, full of thin particles, purulent and causing strangury. No kidney trouble, but their various symptoms succeeded in various orders. Vomitings of phlegm, bile, and undigested food. Sweats; in all cases much moisture over all the body. These complaints in many cases were unattended with fever, and the sufferers were not confined to bed; but in many others there was fever, as I am going to describe. Those who showed all the symptoms mentioned above were consumptives who suffered pain. When autumn came, and during winter, continuous feversin some few cases ardentday fevers, night fevers, semitertians, exact tertians, quartans, irregular fevers. Each of the fevers mentioned found many victims.

Now the ardent fevers attacked the fewest persons, and these were less distressed than any of the other sick. There was no bleeding from the nose, except very slight discharges in a few cases, and no delirium. All the other symptoms were slight. The crises of these diseases were quite regular, generally in seventeen days, counting the days of intermission, and I know of no ardent fever proving fatal at this time, nor of any phrenitis. The tertians were more numerous than the ardent fevers and more painful. But all these had four regular periods from the first onset, had complete crises in seven, and in no case relapsed. But the quartans, while in many instances they began at first with quartan periodicity, yet in not a few they became quartan by an abscession from other fevers or illnesses.[*] They were protracted, as quartans usually are, or even more protracted than usual. Many fell victims to quotidians, night fevers, or irregular fevers, and were ill for a long time, either in bed or walking about. In most of these cases the fevers continued during the season of the Pleiades or even until winter. In many patients, especially children, there were convulsions and slight feverishness from the beginning; sometimes, too, convulsions supervened upon fevers. Mostly these illnesses were protracted, but not dangerous, except for those who from all other causes were predisposed to die.