Science history

This list of causes of death of people in London in 1632 went wildly viral and it’s a grimly fascinating read

John Plunkett. Updated April 4th, 2024

Here’s a thing we didn’t know we’d be writing about today (although, to be fair, that’s true of basically nearly everything you see on these pages).

But this one was particularly unexpected, a list of the causes of death of people in London in 1632 that went wildly viral and makes for grimly fascinating reading.

And in the likely event that’s tricky to read, here it is again (although you’ll still have to zoom in, no doubt).

And it prompted no end of questions, raised eyebrows, and a widespread feeling that we’re glad – well, not overly glad – that we’re living in (double checks calendar) 2024.

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And to help clear up any of the confusion, @timecaptales was on hand to help.

And here is their post in full.

Ague = feverish illness, often malaria

Apoplex = stroke (the rupture or clogging of a blood vessel in the brain), paralysis resulting from a stroke – sometimes also refers to other spontaneous causes of internal bleeding like burst aneurysms

Meagrom = migraine, severe headache – this obvious symptom could be deadly if it originated from things like a brain tumor, bleeding within the brain

Bloody flux, scowring, flux = dysentery / bloody diarrhea or otherwise severe diarrhea, often from diseases like cholera

Childbed = death during or shortly after giving birth

Chrisomes = death of unbaptized infant / death of infant less than a month old

Colick, stone, and strangury = severe abdominal pain, bladder/kidney stones, rupture in abdomen (appendicitis, bladder rupture, etc)

Consumption = tuberculosis

Cut of the stone = died during/from the surgery to cut out bladder/kidney stones

Dropsie and swelling = edema, swelling of a body part

Falling sickness = epilepsy, seizures

Flocks and small pox = smallpox, other diseases causing pustules over the body like cowpox and chickenpox

French pox = syphilis

Jaundies = jaundice, yellowing of the skin and eyes often a symptom of liver failure

Jawfain = “jaw fallen” / lockjaw, often tetanus

King’s Evil = scrofula, aka tuberculosis infection of the neck glands. The touch of a king was said to cure this disease.

Livergrown = unknown, some think it might have been another term for rickets or it could be from diseases which resulted in a swollen, enlarged liver – things like chronic alcoholism, hepatitis, or congestive heart failure.

Made away themselves = suicide

Murthered = murdered

Over-laid = infant that died after being unintentionally smothered / parent rolled onto them while sleeping

Starved at nurse = insufficient breast milk, or the child had a disease that caused them to “fail to thrive” / not gain weight and die even though being fed

Palsie = palsy, paralysis or other muscle difficulties

Piles = hemorrhoids

Planet = aka planet-struck, any very sudden severe illness or paralysis that was thought to result from the “influence” of a planet.

Pleurisie = swollen, inflamed pleura – the membranous tissue surrounding the lungs

Purples = bruising, especially wide-spread – many causes

Spotted feaver = typhus or meningitis

Quinsie = tonsillitis / inflamed tonsils, especially when abscessed and obstructing breathing

Rising of the lights = as an organ meat, lungs are often called “lights” because they are very light-weight organs. Nobody’s sure about what exactly “rising of the lights” was, but it may be related to severe coughing and the perception that during a cough the lungs would rise up in the chest.

Surfet = overeating / gluttony, vomiting from overeating. Aside from direct “death from overeating” it may have been a grouping for many types of death that often went along with being overweight – death from untreated diabetes, cushing’s disease, heart failure, etc.

Teeth = dental infection leading to death

Thrush = yeast overgrowth / yeast infection of mouth (or genitals)

Tympany = either abdominal tumor growth, or other bloating/distension of the abdomen – especially when air or gas is caught within the abdomen or intestines, causing a hollow sound when thumped

Tissick = cough, can also refer to the coughing and wasting away of tuberculosis

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The hilarious comic timing of this ‘dog behaving badly’ is sheer perfection (wait for it!)

Source @fasc1nate