Can farts prevent the Black Death?

 

Title: Why You Should Store Your Farts in a Jar

Author: David Haviland

Publisher: Tarcher/Penguin, New York

Year published: 2010

262 pages

Why did people believe that keeping farts in a jar could ward off the black Death?

The Black Death was one of the deadliest plagues in human history. Between 1348 and 1350 it killed around 1.5 million people in Britain, out of a population of just 4 million. The plague was characterized by unpleasant black buboes that would form in the victims' groin, neck, and armpits, oozing pus and blood. It caused fever, nausea, and vomiting, and most victims died within four to seven days of becoming infected. There were regular outbreaks of plague about once every generation, until the last major outbreak in 1665, the Great Plague of London.

Medicine of this period was based upon principles that had been around since the ancient Greeks, including the simple tenet that "like cures like." Since it was believed that the plague was caused by deadly vapors, it therefore made sense that other foul smells might help to ward off the disease. Some doctors therefore recommended keeping dirty goats inside the home, to create a therapeutic stink. Others suggested using another source of foul odors: our own farts. However, rather than waste the precious pungencies, people were instead advised to store their farts in jars, which could then be opened and inhaled the next time the deadly pestilence appeared in the neighborhood.

(page 30-31)


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