gradually to a good Height, if the Confluent Pustules appear for the greatest part round, and fill themselves by Degrees with white thick Matter; it is highly probable, that on the eleventh Day, or the next following, Nature will triumph over her Adversary, and that the Patient will be then in a State of Safety.
It is on the eleventh Day, when the swelling of the Face begins regularly to diminish and subside, that the Hands begin to rise, where the Course of Suppuration is more backward, because the Eruptions there came forth after those of the Face: But the Decrease of the swelling of the Face is not, in my Judgment, in any wise the Cause of that in the Hands, as I have before demonstrated: But if the Face sinks before the eleventh Day, Nature is forced by the great Putrefaction to take irregular Steps, which presages Danger to the Patient; for the longer his Face continues swelled, the safer his Condition is: Though before the eleventh Day, the Heads of several of the Pustules should not be round, but pitted or dented in; yet if the Sides fill themselves with digested Matter, it will suffice for the Purpose of Nature, and the Patient may escape; and often those depressed Heads will rise again: But if they are not only dented in, but are likewise black and dark, and that in a considerable Number; it discovers great Malignancy and Corruption, and is likely to be fatal. If a great part of the
