I found a blog with a bunch of the definitions
https://www.neatorama.com/2022/03/09/Leading-Causes-of-Deaths-in-London-1632/
this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2024
583 points (98.8% liked)
Science Memes
11426 readers
1835 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Thanks. I have so many questions about some of these. Cut of the stone, king's evil, Planet, rising of the lights, teeth... I'm mostly curious what king's evil is in this context. Gonna go look Edit: per the link it's scrofula.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
Cancer, and Wolf.
“People called cancer the wolf, because it 'ate up' the person.” But this wasn't just a linguistic quirk. The idea was actually translated into practice. “Some doctors would even apply raw meat to a cancerous ulcer, so that the wolf could feast on that for a while instead of 'eating' the patient.
I could see how people 400 years ago could think that makes sense.
"There are two wolves inside of you. I'm afraid it's terminal."
Classic comedy duo, well until cancer went through the divorce...
load more comments
(1 replies)
Made away themselves.
Ah British dancing around the point terms.
We’d still say “done away with themself”.
"Unalive" is the current dance. Euphemism isn't new.
Just trying to avoid the YouTube censors
Kill'd by several accidents
When the universe is out to get you, but you survive the first accident
Rasputin syndrome
load more comments
(3 replies)
"My teeth are killing me" meant something pretty different back then.
"Teeth" actually meant "a child who's still teething." As with "chrisomes and infants," so many little ones died that often they were categorized by age rather than a specific cause. Probably the only reason to specify "overlaid, and starved at nurse" would be to blame and punish the wet-nurse.
So aggravating to not be able to sort by columns
Planet ?!?
Scary:
"Dying of planet" was a term used in the 17th and 18th centuries to describe a sudden and severe illness or paralysis that was attributed to astrology and the influence of malevolent planets. People who died from "planet" exhibited symptoms similar to strokes, heart attacks, and aneurysms. At the time, people who picked up bodies for burial often knew little about the cause of death. Other causes of death listed in The Diseases, and Casualties this year being 1632 included "affrighted" and "made away themselves". -Via Overview.
- I would choose wolves over cancer
- I suspect it means ear infections, but I choose to believe there was a big kettledrum accident that year
load more comments
(1 replies)
Chrisomes : died while under a month old.
Not sure, but I'm guessing part of the reason to specify the difference between "infants" and "Chrisomes" (baptized babies) might be to say where they'd be buried/where their souls would go.
load more comments
(2 replies)
oh, cool - RFKs suggested DSM just dropped!
Spelling "Lunatic" as "Lunatique" now. Shout out to the poor folks that just died in the street and starved. Surprised it's only 6.
load more comments
(2 replies)
You guys are all laughing about 'planet,' but I'll have you know my uncle died of a cerebral hemorrhage when Neptune hit him on the back of the head. And we all thought it was just a glancing blow, but two days later, he dropped dead right in the middle of the supermarket.
You won't laugh so hard when it happens to someone you care about.
Imagine being proudly offed by Pluto and then they make it not a planet any more.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Only 7 murders? The population of London was apparently about 400,000 back then so that's less than half the murder rate of present-day New York City (which is considered a relatively safe city). I don't think that can be right...
1632 London: 7 / 400,000 = 17.5 murders per million people
2023 New York: 312 / 8,258,000 = 37.8 murders per million people
a relatively safe city [...] 37.8 murders per million
Ignoring that in 1632 it might've been easier for murder to go undetected, here are the numbers of present day London. It's about 13.1 mpm, even lower than in 1632, about a third of present day New York.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/862984/murders-in-london/
America is not really a shining example when it comes to those things...
New York's murder rate (and the overall murder rate in the USA) is shaped by a history of race relations which is quite different from London's. A white person in New York is much less likely (and conversely a black or Hispanic person is much more likely) to be murdered than the overall murder rate for the city might lead someone to think.
load more comments
(6 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)
Rising of the lights?
...found it
Rising of the lights was an illness or obstructive condition of the larynx, trachea or lungs, possibly croup. It was a common entry on bills of mortality in the 17th century.[1][2] Lights in this case referred to the lungs.[3]
I saw this list on hidden killers of the Tudor home (even though this list is post-Tudor era). The specifically spoke about the 'teeth' part.
Basically what that mean was that a variety of tooth decay and oral issues pertaining to the teeth. This was an era that first saw a large consumption of sugar (which as you know LOVES to fuck with teeth) by wealthier people and coupled with a nonexistent oral hygiene practice and dentistry. Basically people's teeth would decay and cause gum disease or simply a shitload of pain that even the painful teeth pulling couldn't fully fix.
One thing that you must remember is that prior to widespread sugar availability most people's teeth were remarkably fine throughout life as people's diets didn't contain enough crap that will mess your teeth up. Of course this isn't to say that it was perfect. Braces would have been a good thing to have for many people and a simple toothbrush with half decent toothpaste would have been a very welcomed thing.
RFK jr will do his damndest to ensure bad teeth becoming a leading cause of death. Right behind measles, flu, polio and other communicable diseases.
load more comments
(8 replies)
I never thought to combine deaths by cancer and by wolves to save space or because they’re similar enough. I can’t comprehend why they thought it was a good idea either.
It wasn't cancer cancer, it was a big crab that lived in the Thames that hung out with a wolf.
load more comments
(1 replies)
You can read about the modern meanings of the words here:
https://mylittlebird.com/2021/03/public-health-stats-on-disease-in-1600s-london/
load more comments
(8 replies)
King's Evil sounds like they were executed to me, but I have no clue what it could actually mean.
Dying of piles sounds awful. Like, it would have been nice to marathon Ye Olde Stranger Things or Squide Game without having your arse falling to pieces on your ~~deathbed~~ deathsofa.
Someone vomitted to death. I'd probably rather the cancer and wolf combo.
load more comments
(2 replies)
view more: next ›