| Citation |
BEP(P.782.067
24 Aug 1782:22,23 (1/45)
We have already mentioned a disorder of the epidemical kind,
by which above three quarters of London and Westminster
have, for some days past, been confined to their beds. The
name of influenza, by which the faculty distinguish it,
imports something contagious in the air; and such an effect
might have been expected: for the oldest man among us has
not seen such a season. Ever since February, which was
fine, scarcely have we seen the sun, through the gloomy
clouds which have hidden it; rains without ceasing or thick
fogs; quick transitions from warm to cold. These have
produced swelled legs, covered with a sort of eresipelas,
throat and eyes puffed up, violent aching of the head and
stomach, shiverings and fevers: such are the symptoms of
this distemper, which as yet has carried off but few
persons. The play-house and opera house are shut for want
of persons to fill them: in a word, the Prince of Wales,
Duke of Cumberland, and divers others of the Royal Family,
with most of the persons about the court, labor under the
distressful effects of this influenza.
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