ally than I can do, and because my
opinion may in some things differ from theirs. I am only relating what
I know, or have heard, or believe of the particular cases, and what fell
within the compass of my view, and the different nature of the infection
as it appeared in the particular cases which I have related; but this
may be added too: that though the former sort of those cases, namely,
those openly visited, were the worst for themselves as to pain--I mean
those that had such fevers, vomitings, headaches, pains, and swellings,
because they died in such a dreadful manner--yet the latter had the
worst state of the disease; for in the former they frequently recovered,
especially if the swellings broke; but the latter was inevitable death;
no cure, no help, could be possible, nothing could follow but death.
And it was worse also to others, because, as above, it secretly and
unperceived by others or by themselves, communicated death to those they
conversed with, the penetrating poison insinuating itself into their
blood in a manner which it is impossible to describe, or indeed
conceive.

This infecting and being infected without so much as its being known
to either person is evident from two sorts of cases which frequently
happened at that time; and there is hardly anybody living who was in
London during the infection but must have known several of the cases of
both sorts.

(1) Fathers and mothers have gone about as if they had been well, and
have believed themselves to be so, till they have insensibly infected
and been the destruction of their whole families, which they would have
been far from doing if they had the least apprehensions of their being
unsound and dangerous themselves. A family, whose story I have heard,
was thus infected by the father; and the distemper began to appear upon
some of them even before he found it upon himself. But searching more
narrowly, it appeared he had been affected some time; and as soon as he
found that his family had been poisoned by himself he went distracted,
and would have laid violent hands upon himself, but was kept from that
by those who looked to him, and in a few days died.

(2) The other particular is, that many people having been well to the
best of their own judgement, or by the best observation which they
could make of themselves for several days, and only finding a decay
of appetite, or a light sickness upon their stomachs; nay, some whose
appetite has been strong, and