The purpose of the mask was to remove bad smells, thought to be the principal cause of the disease. Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected. The costume included a wide brimmed leather hat to indicate their profession.
The eccentric headpiece served as a kind of primitive 'gas mask' for medical practitioners in 17th-century Europe, designed to protect its wearer from the foul odours associated with the plague.
Hat: The hat was used to cover the head and prevent the contagion. It was important that it was wide-brimmed, because this characteristic indicated the profession of the Plague Doctor. The hats of course were of tanned leather and were tied tightly with leather straps.
Identification: Serious robes and a casual hat
The ensemble was completed by topping it off with a flat-topped, wide-brimmed plague doctor hat. This plague doctor hat, made of waxed leather, replaced what typically went with the formal-robe attire, which traditionally had included a round, corded bonnet.
They believed this would remove the bad smells from the air before the doctor breathed it, preventing the doctors from catching the plague.
Short answer: NO. We see in the media many people wondering if the plague doctors were evil or bad. So we want to clarify it definitively. This may be due to their terrifying masks and outfits, but they were doctors!
Bubonic plague still occurs throughout the world and in the U.S., with cases in Africa, Asia, South America and the western areas of North America. About seven cases of plague happen in the U.S. every year on average. Half of the U.S. cases involve people aged 12 to 45 years.
A long leather gown covered the doctor from head to toe, and beneath the gown they wore leather leggings, boots, and gloves. The beak-like mask, which was originally supposed to be just 6 inches long, was stuffed with dried flowers, strong-smelling herbs, and camphor or vinegar-soaked sponges.
The uniform designed by de Lorme was a long coat, gloves, boots, and a wide-brimmed hat. The doctors also carried long, wooden canes so they wouldn't have to touch patients. The most recognizable feature of the uniform, though, was the mask. The mask made the plague doctors look like birds.
The primary responsibilities of a plague doctor, or Medico della Peste, were not to cure or treat patients. Their duties were more administrative and laborious as they kept track of casualties of the Black Death, assisted in the occasional autopsy, or witnessed wills for the dead and dying.
Plague doctor tattoos are inspired by the age of the Black Plague epidemic where doctors adorned bird masks and long, dark robes to see patients. With death being everywhere during these times, no good was to come when a plague doctor was coming your way.
A Terrifying Outfit
They also wore gloves and a hat. Over their heads, plague doctors wore a mask and dark leather hood held in place with leather bands and gathered at the neck to keep “bad air” out. Eye holes were cut into the leather and fitted with glass domes.
Antiserum. The first application of antiserum to the treatment of patients is credited to Yersin [5], who used serum developed with the assistance of his Parisian colleagues Calmette, Roux, and Borrel.
Plague can be successfully treated with antibiotics. Once a patient is diagnosed with suspected plague they should be hospitalized and, in the case of pneumonic plague, medically isolated.
Most people died two to seven days after initial infection. Freckle-like spots and rashes, which could have been caused by flea-bites, were identified as another potential sign of plague.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the idea that the air could be polluted became widespread and doctors sought to prevent "bad air," from getting to them and infecting them. The long noses of the mask were filled with drugs and aromatic herbs, including mint, cloves, rose petals, and myrrh to filter the air.
The three main diagnostic methods used by physicians were astrology, uroscopy, and pulse-taking. Europeans realized the contagious nature of the disease, but many Muslims refuted the notion of contagion.
The Plague Doctor is a villain of Gotham city who prefers to "study" diseases by infecting civilians.
The world's first known plague victim was a 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer in Europe. The skull of the man buried in Riņņukalns, Latvia, around 5,000 years ago. Humanity has been ravaged by the plague – one of the deadliest bacterial infections in history – for thousands of years.
Today, scientists understand that the Black Death, now known as the plague, is spread by a bacillus called Yersinia pestis.
The disappearance of plague from London has been attributed to the Great Fire of London in September 1666, but it also subsided in other cities without such cause. The decline has also been ascribed to quarantine, but effective quarantine was actually not established until 1720.
Each piece of the suit—the hat, the bird-like mask, the red glass eyes, the black overcoat, the leather breeches, and the wooden cane—is thought to have had an important function to either keep the disease away or scare it away.
A head mirror is a simple diagnostic device, stereotypically worn by physicians, but less so in recent decades as they have become somewhat obsolete.
The Plague Doctor Costume
Straps held the beak in front of the doctor's nose which had two small nose holes and was a type of respirator. The beak could hold dried flowers (e.g roses or carnations), herbs (e.g. mint), spices, camphor or a vinegar sponge.
Wise Spirit Guides
According to Perspectives, Northern American cultures see crows as a sort of spirit guide and at times even a prophetic being. They are seers of the future, who hold all the wisdom and flexibility needed for real change.