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which is absolutely false. The Greek Padré, who took care of the Greek-hospital at Smyrna for fifty years, assured me, that he had had the plague twelve different times in that interval; and it is very certain, that he died of it in 1736. Monsieur Brossard had it in the year 1745, when he returned from France; and it is very well known, that he and all his family died of it in April 1762. The Abbé, who takes care of the Frank-hospital at Pera, swore to me the other day, that he has had it already, here and at Smyrna, four different times. But, what is still more extraordinary, is, that a young woman, who had it in September last, with it's most pathognomonic symptoms, as buboes and carbuncles, after a fever, had it again on the 11th of April, and died of it some days ago, while there is not the least surmise of any accident in or about Constantinople since December, this only one excepted: but there died four persons in the same little house in September; and as the house was never well cleaned, and this young woman always lived in it, she was at last attacked a second time, and died.
The only antecedents, that I could observe to this malady, was a great murrain among the black cattle in May 1745, and in the beginning of June, the same year, swarms of butterflies flew about, and there were great numbers of caterpillars creeping every where, and afterwards a violent plague: and, after observing the same anno 1752 and 1758, you may recollect, that I foretold to you, Sir, that we should have a hot plague in those years; which accordingly happened, especially in the months of August and September 1758, when many of Marsellini's family,
