perished in London from the plague, and
in 1625 the mortality in that city amounted to 35,417 persons. 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. A few extracts from
Pepys's "Diary," the evidence of an eye-witness and a contemporary,
show the ghastly aspects of this terrible visitation. On August 31st he
writes: "In the City, this week, died 7496, and of them 6102 died of
the plague. But it is found that the true number of the dead this week
is nearer 10,000; partly from the poor who cannot be taken care of
through the greatness of the number, and partly from the Quakers and
others that will not have any bell rung for them." According to Adams,
John Evelyn noted in his "Kalendarium":--"Sept. 7th.--Near 10,000 now
died weekly; however, I went all along the City and suburbs from Kent
street to St. James's, a dismal passage, and dangerous to see so many
coffins exposed in the streets; the streets thin of people, the shops
shut up, and all in silence, no one knowing whose turn might be next."

As the cold weather came on the plague diminished in intensity and the
people regained their confidence and returned to the city. According to
Adams, in the first week of March, 1666, deaths by the plague had
decreased to 42; and by the end of the month it