• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Strange Deaths

I'm always interested in the smaller numbers in these things. That's where the pearls are.
1 person dead from each of these;
'Affrighted' (scared to death?)
'Bit with a mad dog' (Rabies or just nasty biting?)
'Canker' (? Dunno - cancer maybe?)
'Piles' (Jeez they must have been the worst bum-grapes ever)
'Sciatica' (I never knew that could kill you, unless it stopped you moving out the way of a rapidly approaching loose horse)
'Vomiting' (Yep that'll do for you if it doesn't stop)

And then there is the 2 people who died of 'Lethargie'....they literally couldn't be bothered to live.
And 3 people who died of 'Bleeding'. Well, that would definitely dead you if you didn't manage to stop it.
 
What is 'cut of the stone'? Anyone?

Lithotomy, for bladder stones. Samuel Pepys underwent one:

"The surgeon got to work. First he inserted a thin silver instrument, the itinerarium, through the penis into the bladder to help position the stone. Then he made the incision, about three inches long and a finger's breadth from the line running between scrotum and anus, and into the neck of the bladder, or just below it. The patient's face was sponged as the incision was made. The stone was sought, found and grasped with pincers; the more speedily it could be got out the better. Once out, the wound was not stitched--it was thought best to let it drain and cicatrize itself--but simply washed and covered with a dressing, or even kept open at first with a small roll of soft cloth known as a tent, dipped in egg white. A plaster of egg yolk, rose vinegar and anointing oils was then applied."

https://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclopedia/346/

Probably not as much fun as it sounds…

maximus otter
 
Here are explanations for some the archaic malady terminology posted above ...

Rising of the lights
Rising of the lights was an illness or obstructive condition of the larynx, trachea, or lungs, possibly croup. It was a common entry on bills of mortality in the seventeenth century. Lights in this case referred to the lungs. ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_of_the_lights

King's Evil
The King's Evil was the name given to scrofula, the swelling of the bones and lymphatic glands in the neck. Now recognised to be tuberculosis.
https://historyhouse.co.uk/articles/kings_evil.html

impostume (aka imposthume)
... A collection of pus or purulent matter in any part of an animal body; an abscess.
https://www.wordnik.com/words/impostume

LIVERGROWN
People who died of livergrown suffered from an enlarged (or failing) liver. Doctors could diagnose it through the combination of other symptoms, like jaundice and abdominal pain. It was commonly a result of alcoholism, but could be caused by a number of disorders.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

CHRISOMES
Infant mortality was extremely high before the advent of modern medicine. The Bills distinguished abortive (miscarried), stillborn, infant, and chrisom deaths—the latter term specified infants who died within the first month of life, around the time they were baptized with special white cloths (which were called chrisomes).
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

TIMPANY
The condition of having serious swelling or bloating in the digestive tract, which produces a hollow sound when tapped, is still called tympany today. The sort that would have proven fatal to humans could have been caused by kidney disease, intestinal infections, or cancerous tumors.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

TISSICK
The term tissick, a corruption of phthisis, originated in ancient Greek and persisted through Latin, French, and English for thousands of years, only to end up an obsolete word referring to a “wasting disease of the lungs,” according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. In the 17th century, that could indicate the wheezing and coughing associated with asthma, bronchitis, or possibly tuberculosis.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

QUINSIE
Quinsie, which evolved from a Latin word meaning “choke,” is still occasionally used in modern England. It describes a complication of tonsillitis in which an abscess grows between the tonsil and the throat. Unless the abscess was removed, a patient could suffocate from the blockage.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

FRENCH POX
When people across Europe came down with syphilis beginning in the 1490s, they blamed the French. (Perhaps they should have blamed Christopher Columbus and the Spanish, whom historians believe brought the bacterial infection back from the New World.) Rightly or wrongly, French pox is what the Bills of Mortality lists for deaths by advanced syphilis
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

BLOODY FLUX
Dysentery ...
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

Cut of the Stone
The surgical removal of a bladder stone.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Child Bed (Fever)
Infection in the mother following birth of a child, probably due to staphylococcus.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Wolf
A rapidly expanding growth, probably a malignant tumour.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Meagrom, Megrim
A severe headache, often limited to one side of the head.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Purples
This is a rash due to spontaneous bleeding in to the skin. It may be a symptom of some severe illnesses, including bacterial endocarditis and cerebrospinal meningitis.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Plannet
Plannet is likely a shorthand for “planet-struck.” Many medical practitioners believed the planets influenced health and sanity. A person who was planet-stricken had been suddenly maligned by the forces of particular planets. They would likely present symptoms also associated with aneurysms, strokes, and heart attacks.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague
 
Last edited:
Here are explanations for some the archaic malady terminology posted above ...

Rising of the lights
Rising of the lights was an illness or obstructive condition of the larynx, trachea, or lungs, possibly croup. It was a common entry on bills of mortality in the seventeenth century. Lights in this case referred to the lungs. ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_of_the_lights

King's Evil
The King's Evil was the name given to scrofula, the swelling of the bones and lymphatic glands in the neck. Now recognised to be tuberculosis.
https://historyhouse.co.uk/articles/kings_evil.html

impostume (aka imposthume)
... A collection of pus or purulent matter in any part of an animal body; an abscess.
https://www.wordnik.com/words/impostume

LIVERGROWN
People who died of livergrown suffered from an enlarged (or failing) liver. Doctors could diagnose it through the combination of other symptoms, like jaundice and abdominal pain. It was commonly a result of alcoholism, but could be caused by a number of disorders.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

CHRISOMES
Infant mortality was extremely high before the advent of modern medicine. The Bills distinguished abortive (miscarried), stillborn, infant, and chrisom deaths—the latter term specified infants who died within the first month of life, around the time they were baptized with special white cloths (which were called chrisomes).
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

TIMPANY
The condition of having serious swelling or bloating in the digestive tract, which produces a hollow sound when tapped, is still called tympany today. The sort that would have proven fatal to humans could have been caused by kidney disease, intestinal infections, or cancerous tumors.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

TISSICK
The term tissick, a corruption of phthisis, originated in ancient Greek and persisted through Latin, French, and English for thousands of years, only to end up an obsolete word referring to a “wasting disease of the lungs,” according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. In the 17th century, that could indicate the wheezing and coughing associated with asthma, bronchitis, or possibly tuberculosis.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

QUINSIE
Quinsie, which evolved from a Latin word meaning “choke,” is still occasionally used in modern England. It describes a complication of tonsillitis in which an abscess grows between the tonsil and the throat. Unless the abscess was removed, a patient could suffocate from the blockage.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

FRENCH POX
When people across Europe came down with syphilis beginning in the 1490s, they blamed the French. (Perhaps they should have blamed Christopher Columbus and the Spanish, whom historians believe brought the bacterial infection back from the New World.) Rightly or wrongly, French pox is what the Bills of Mortality lists for deaths by advanced syphilis
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

BLOODY FLUX
Dysentery ...
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

Cut of the Stone
The surgical removal of a bladder stone.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Child Bed (Fever)
Infection in the mother following birth of a child, probably due to staphylococcus.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Wolf
A rapidly expanding growth, probably a malignant tumour.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Meagrom, Megrim
A severe headache, often limited to one side of the head.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Purples
This is a rash due to spontaneous bleeding in to the skin. It may be a symptom of some severe illnesses, including bacterial endocarditis and cerebrospinal meningitis.
http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/oldnames.htm

Plannet
Plannet is likely a shorthand for “planet-struck.” Many medical practitioners believed the planets influenced health and sanity. A person who was planet-stricken had been suddenly maligned by the forces of particular planets. They would likely present symptoms also associated with aneurysms, strokes, and heart attacks.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67247/15-historic-diseases-competed-bubonic-plague

They all sound great!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
A man in Saint Louis was killed by a gunshot in the back. It was fired by his 2-year-old child.
2-year-old accidentally shoots and kills father, police say

A 2-year-old child accidentally shot his father in the back and killed him Saturday night, police said.

The incident happened around 8:40 p.m. at the 1400 block of Castle Lane. The man was found unconscious and not breathing, police said. Police later confirmed it as a homicide.

Authorities tell News 4 the 2-year-old was handling a rifle when it went off.

Police also said there was a woman in the home when the shooting happened. It is unclear whether she will face any charges.
SOURCE: https://www.kmov.com/news/2-year-ol...cle_4944be5a-4a76-11ec-8f7c-63f29549f030.html
 
A 2 year old might have difficulty with lifting a rifle and pulling the trigger.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
 
A 2 year old might have difficulty with lifting a rifle and pulling the trigger.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Hmmmmmm

Stewie1.jpg
 
A 2 year old might have difficulty with lifting a rifle and pulling the trigger.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
If the gun were already loaded and the child tried to pick it up by the triggery bit the weight might set it off, I dunno.

Can't say I'm prepared to devote a great deal of thought to this conundrum though. It's not intriguing. Having guns around is going to result in accidents sooner or later.
 
If a 2 year old picked up a rifle by the triggery bit, the bullety bit would probably point towards the floor.
 
If a 2 year old picked up a rifle by the triggery bit, the bullety bit would probably point towards the floor.
Depends which way it was lying. Maybe it will all come out in court.
 
A 2 year old would be very unlikely to be able to cycle the action so the idiot
must have left it not only with a round in the chamber but cocked and safety
off, maybe the fool left it within reach and the child leaned over and pressed
the trigger, triggers can be very light, depends on what make and model the rifle
is but if that is what happened then it's very close to a home goal.

:omr: :(
 
I don't doubt he could do it but I do doubt he could do it if he had to load a round
into the chamber, it would be interesting to see the outcome.
:omr:
 
What we're saying here is that we don't believe a little toddler could have shot his Dad in the back with a rifle and killed him, certainly not if the gun had to be loaded first.
So we suspect the child's mother of murdering her partner for whatever reason.

Though if the gun were lying around already loaded due to the negligence of either or both parents then it's just about possible for it to be fired accidentally and for Dad to be unlucky.
 
If a dog can hit a trigger on a gun and shoot a hunter, then a toddler who sees guns around the house can shoot his dad.
If a rifle is propped up somewhere and a dog treads on the trigger causing someone to be shot, it's a bit different to a small child having lift and point a handgun and pull the trigger. In the first case, the gun is supported (and most hunting dogs outweigh a two year old child) in the second the gun would have to be 'aimed' somewhat, otherwise the weight of it would cause the bullet to go into the floor. Wouldn't it? I know not much about guns (but a lot about dogs, oddly) and I can more easily believe a hunting accident type scenario than a two year old being able to point a gun and pull a trigger.
 
Back
Top