Long ago , European medico believed that " bad air " caused illnesses — scientist like Louis Pasteur , Robert Koch , andJoseph Listerhadn’t yet delivered scientific proof of the germ theory of disease . To safeguard themselves against miasm , as they call this harmful air , doctors donned a curious accessory while treating sickly patients : a maskwith a farseeing , bird - like beak , which was stuffed with dry out flowers , herbs , and spices . ( Today , you might recognize it from the “ plague doctor ” costumes worn during the Carnival of Venice , as it ’s associated withIl Medico della Peste , the famouscommedia dell’artecharacter . )
Doctors are said to have encompass this looking , thanks in part to the Black Death , which scourge the Middle East , Asia , and Europe during the 14th century . However , there’sno concrete evidencethat physicians of the epoch wore these grimace coverings . In fact , medical historian say they were n’t devise until three centuries by and by , when a 16th century Gallic doctor named Charles de Lorme likely designed what could be describe as one of story ’s earliest hazmat lawsuit during ulterior wave of the pestilence .
Doctor de Lorme ( 1584 - 1678 ) was thechief physicianto Louis XIII , and is accredit with the mask ’s design . He is also responsible for its distinctive accompanying outfit , which consisted of a leather overcoat , rear of barrel , a cane , a wide - brimmed lid , mitt , and boots . Here’san early textual descriptionfrom theEncyclopedia of Infectious Diseases : Modern Methodologies :
The suffocating clothing corps de ballet was designed to protect the skin from photograph to miasma ( the coat was even tuck into the mask ) , while the hat was simply a common accessory worn by physicians at the time . Meanwhile , the wooden cane was in all likelihood used to keep a space from sick patients , or to instruct caregivers on how to move them during exams .
So , if you see someone hold out a pest doctor costume this Halloween and their account is n’t quite up to snuff , make indisputable they deal their confect with you first , before softly correcting them that their dizzy - looking mask is n’t technically a part of the Black Plague ’s lasting legacy ( even if it is extra - creepy-crawly looking ) .
[ h / tHistoryanswers.co.uk ]
