A Boke or Counseill against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate or Sweatyng Sicknesse. by John Caius
This month’s featured text is A Boke, or Counseill against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate, or Sweatyng Sicknesse by John Caius. Caius was born in 1510 in Norwich, and after studying at Gonville Hall in Cambridge for a time went to Italy to finish his studies in medicine. He became a medical practitioner in London and was eventually physician to three monarchs. It is believed, however, that he was released from the service of Elizabeth I due to his adherence to the Catholic faith. He held a wide variety of interests and published other works, including a book describing breeds of English dogs. Caius helped to establish Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge and was the college’s master until his death in 1573.

A Boke, or Counseill against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate, or Sweatyng Sicknesse was the first extended treatise written in English describing a disease. In his book, Caius describes the symptoms, causes, and cures of the sweating sickness. The illness was of epidemiologic proportions and killed as many as a third of the citizens in some towns. Symptoms included rashes, headaches, excessive sweating, fever, and respiratory distress. To prevent the sickness, Caius laid out a plan for a good diet and avoiding impure air. He mentioned that if the patient made it through the first twenty-four hours, he or she was likely to survive. Though Caius guessed that the disease was at least partially caused by filth, to this day the disease and cause of it have remain undetermined.

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