Nathaniel Hodges (1629–1688): Plague doctor
Christopher J. Duffin
Nathaniel Hodges was the son of Thomas (1605–1672), an influential Anglican preacher and reformer with strong connections in political life Carolingian London. Educated at Westminster School, Trinity College Cambridge Christ Church College, Oxford, established himself as a physician Walbrook Ward City Prominent one handful medical men who remained London during time Great Plague 1665, he wrote definitive work on outbreak. His daily precautions against contracting disease included fortifying Théodore de Mayerne’s antipestilential electuary liberal consumption Sack. Hodges’ approach to treatment plague victims empathetic based traditional Galenic method rather than Paracelsianism although pragmatic rejection formulae simples which judged from experience be ineffective. Besieged by financial problems later life, his practice began fail 1680s eventually died debtor’s prison.
Journal of Medical Biography|PubMed