This Is How People Thought Of Fever Before They Knew What It Was

This Is How People Thought Of Fever Before They Knew What It Was

Having a fever can be pretty terrible — but imagine having it before there was any cure, when nobody really knew what it was. This picture, from the 18 century, depicts just that.

One of 100,000 pictures depicting the history of medicine which were made freely available this week by Wellcome Images, this picture shows how artist James Dunthorne thought of ague and fever way back when. The hairy monster apparently represents a patient wracked by fever. It looks pretty terrifying. [Wellcome Images via New Scientist]


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