The Germ of an Idea : Contagionism, Religion, and Society in Britain, 1660-1730

Contagionism is an old idea, but gained new life in Restoration Britain. The Germ of an Idea considers British contagionism in its religious, social, political and professional context from the Great Plague of London to the adoption of smallpox inoculation. It shows how ideas about contagion changed medicine and the understanding of acute diseases. Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Preface: The Eighteenth-Century Slump? 10 Acknowledgments 20 Abbreviations and Short Titles 22 1 Introduction: Medical Theory in Early Modern Europe 23 2 Restoration Medicine and the Dissenters 38 3 Populist Writing on Diseases in the Late Seventeenth Century 57 4 The Search for Middle Ground: Disease Theory as Natural History 69 5 Animalcules and Animals 86 6 English Contagionism and Hans Sloane’s Circle 103 7 An English Treatise on Living Contagion: Benjamin Marten’s New Theory of Consumptions, 1720 125 8 Smallpox Inoculation and the Royal Society, 1700–1723 145 9 Contagion and Plague in the Eighteenth Century 164 Conclusion 187 Notes 192 Bibliography 279 Index 306 Front Matter....Pages i-xxi Introduction: Medical Theory in Early Modern Europe....Pages 1-15 Restoration Medicine and the Dissenters....Pages 17-35 Populist Writing on Diseases in the Late Seventeenth Century....Pages 37-48 The Search for Middle Ground: Disease Theory as Natural History....Pages 49-65 Animalcules and Animals....Pages 67-83 English Contagionism and Hans Sloane’s Circle....Pages 85-106 An English Treatise on Living Contagion: Benjamin Marten’s New Theory of Consumptions, 1720....Pages 107-126 Smallpox Inoculation and the Royal Society, 1700–1723....Pages 127-145 Contagion and Plague in the Eighteenth Century....Pages 147-169 Conclusion....Pages 171-175 Back Matter....Pages 177-305 Germ of an Idea shows how a belief in contagion began to spread among a group of medical reformers who had been forced by nationality and religious nonconformity to follow alternative pathways to medical education and professional status in early eighteenth century Britain. It explains how contagionism shaped their ideas about the nature and behavior of diseases such as smallpox, plague, syphilis, and consumption and how it interacted with the belief that diseases were not imbalances, but specific entities