'Tis said, that a similar, if not the same Disease hath long been in some of our American Colonies, and the West-India Islands, but as I have met with no Accounts of it from such as were competent Judges, it must be left to Time, and further Inquiries, to determine the Truth or Falsity of the Report.

London, Dec. 1. 1748.

OF THE
SORE THROAT
Attended with ULCERS;

As it appeared in Spain, Italy, Sicily, &c.

The Disease which was called by the Spaniards Garrotillo[[1]], by the Italians, and other Nations, Morbus strangulatorius, Pestilens Faucium Affectus, Epidemica Gutturis Lues, and by divers other Appellations[[2]], is said to have appeared first in Spain about the Year 1608, to have spread from thence to Malta, Sicily, Otranto, Apulia, Calabria, and the Campagnia, in the Space of a few Years; and to have broke out at Naples in 1618, where it continued upwards of 20 Years ravaging the different Parts of that Kingdom[[3]].

It is not certainly known how much longer it remained in these Countries, or to what others it was communicated at that time, its Declension being as obscure as the Causes it sprung from. That it wholly disappeared in these Parts, soon after the Time above-mention'd, seems probable, from the Silence of those Physicians, who have published their Observations made in the Places, which had so severely felt the Effects of this Distemper.

Several Writers, as Wierus[[4]], Forrestus[[5]], Ramazzini[[6]], and others, take notice of epidemic Affections of the Throat, in some respects resembling the Disease here described; but a little Attention to the Symptoms of each, will, I think, discover an essential Difference between them. The same may be said of the Sore Throat and Scarlet Fever, which shew'd itself at Edinburgh in 1733[[7]].

Tournefort, in his Voyage to the Levant[[8]], seems to have found the Disease we are treating of in the Islands of the Archipelago; at least as far as one can judge from the imperfect Description we have of it. His Account is as follows.

"When we were in this Island (Milo), there raged a terrible Distemper, not uncommon in the Levant: It carries off Children in twice 24 Hours: It is a Carbuncle or Plague-Sore in the Bottom of the Throat, attended with a violent Fever. This Malady, which may be called the Child's Plague, is epidemical, tho' it spares adult People. The best way to check the Progress of it, is to vomit the Child the Moment he complains of a sore Throat, or that he is perceived to grow heavy-headed.

This Remedy must be repeated, according as there is Occasion, in order to evacuate a sort of Aqua fortis, that discharges itself on the Throat. It is necessary to support the Circulation of the Juices, and the Strength of the Patient, with spirituous Things; such as the Theriaca, Spir. vol. oleos. aromat. and the like. The Solution of Liquid Styrax in Brandy is an excellent Gargarism upon this Occasion. Tho' it is a Case that requires the greatest Dispatch, the Levantines are seldom much in Haste in the Cure of any Disease."