Plague doctor costume - wikipedia Plague doctor costume Paul Fürst, engraving, c. 1721, of a plague doctor of Marseilles ( introduced as ' Dr Beaky of Rome ' ). His nose - case is filled with herbal material to keep off the plague. The clothing worn by plague doctors was intended to protect them from airborne diseases. The costume, originating in the 17th century, consisted of an ankle length overcoat and a bird - like beak mask often filled with sweet or strong smelling substances ( commonly lavender ), along with gloves, boots, a wide - brimmed hat, and an outer over-clothing garment. Contents 1 Description 2 History 3 Culture 4 References 4.1 Footnotes 4.2 Works cited 5 External links Description Plague doctor costume from Germany ( seventeenth century ). The mask had glass openings in the eyes and a curved beak shaped like that of a bird. Straps held the beak in front of the doctor 's nose. The mask had two small nose holes and was a type of respirator which contained aromatic items. The beak could hold dried flowers ( including roses and carnations ), herbs ( including mint ), spices, camphor, or a vinegar sponge. The purpose of the mask was to keep away bad smells, which were thought to be the principal cause of the disease in the miasma theory of infection, before it was disproved by germ theory. Doctors believed the herbs would counter the `` evil '' smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected. The beak doctor costume worn by plague doctors had a wide - brimmed leather hat to indicate their profession. They used wooden canes to point out areas needing attention and to examine patients without touching them. The canes were also used to keep people away, to remove clothing from plague victims without having to touch them, and to take a patient 's pulse. History Medical historians have attributed the invention of the `` beak doctor '' costume to Charles de Lorme, who adopted in 1619 the idea of a full head - to - toe protective garment, modeled after a soldier 's armour. This consisted of a bird - like mask with spectacles, and a long leather ( Moroccan or Levantine ) or waxed - canvas gown which went from the neck to the ankle. The over-clothing garment, as well as leggings, gloves, boots, and a hat, were made of waxed leather. The garment was impregnated with similar fragrant items as the beak mask. The costume may have older roots as some authors have described fourteenth - century plague doctors as wearing bird - like masks. Lorme wrote that the mask had a `` nose half a foot long, shaped like a beak, filled with perfume with only two holes, one on each side near the nostrils, but that can suffice to breathe and to carry along with the air one breathes the impression of the drugs enclosed further along in the beak ''. This popular 17th - century poem describes the plague doctor 's costume. As may be seen on picture here, In Rome the doctors do appear, When to their patients they are called, In places by the plague appalled, Their hats and cloaks, of fashion new, Are made of oilcloth, dark of hue, Their caps with glasses are designed, Their bills with antidotes all lined, That foulsome air may do no harm, Nor cause the doctor man alarm, The staff in hand must serve to show Their noble trade where'er they go. The Genevese physician Jean - Jacques Manget, in his 1721 work Treatise on the Plague written just after the Great Plague of Marseille, describes the costume worn by plague doctors at Nijmegen in 1636 - 1637. The costume forms the frontispiece of Manget 's 1721 work. The plague doctors of Nijmegen also wore beaked masks. Their robes, leggings, hats, and gloves were made of morocco leather. This costume was also worn by plague doctors during the Plague of 1656, which killed 145,000 people in Rome and 300,000 in Naples. The costume terrified people because it was a sign of imminent death. Plague doctors wore these protective costumes in accordance with their agreements when they attended their plague patients. Culture A beaked Venetian carnival mask with the inscription Medico della Peste ( `` Plague doctor '' ) beneath the right eye The costume is also associated with a commedia dell'arte character called Il Medico della Peste ( the Plague Doctor ), who wears a distinctive plague doctor 's mask. The Venetian mask was normally white, consisting of a hollow beak and round eye - holes covered with clear glass, and is one of the distinctive masks worn during the Carnival of Venice. References Footnotes Jump up ^ Füssli 's image is reproduced and discussed in Robert Fletcher, A tragedy of the Great Plague of Milan in 1630 ( Baltimore : The Lord Baltimore Press, 1898 ), p. 16 -- 17. ^ Jump up to : Pommerville ( Body Systems ), p. 15 Bauer, p. 145 Abrams, p. 257 Byfield, p. 26 Glaser, pp. 33 - 34 ^ Jump up to : Ellis, p. 202 Jump up ^ Time - Life Books, pp. 140, 158 Dolan, p. 139 Ellis, p. 202 Paton Martin, p. 121 Sherman, p. 162 Turner, p. 180 Mentzel, p. 86 Glaser, p. 36 Hall, p. 67 Infectious Diseases Society of America, Volume 11, p. 819 Grolier, p. 700 Jump up ^ O'Donnell, p. 135 Jump up ^ Stuart, p. 15 Jump up ^ Center for Advanced Study in Theatre Arts, p. 83 Jump up ^ Doktor Schnabel von Rom, engraving by Paul Fürst ( after J Columbina ), Rome 1656. Jump up ^ American Medical Association - JAMA. : The Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 34, p. 639 Jump up ^ Pommerville, p. 9 ^ Jump up to : Boeckl, p. 15 ^ Jump up to : Carmichael, p. 57 ^ Jump up to : Vidal, Pierre ; Tibayrenc, Myrtille ; Gonzalez, Jean - Paul ( 2007 ). `` Chapter 40 : Infectious disease and arts ''. In Tibayrenc, Michel. Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases : Modern Methodologies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 680. ISBN 9780470114193. Jump up ^ Carmichael, A.G. ( 2009 ), `` Plague, Historical '', in Schaechter, Moselio, Encyclopedia of Microbiology ( 3rd ed. ), Elsevier, pp. 58 -- 72, doi : 10.1016 / B978 - 012373944 - 5.00311 - 4 Jump up ^ Iqbal Akhtar Khan ( May 2004 ). `` Plague : the dreadful visitation occupying the human mind for centuries ''. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 98 ( 5 ) : 270 -- 277. PMID 15109549. doi : 10.1016 / S0035 - 9203 ( 03 ) 00059 - 2. Charles Delorme ( 1584 -- 1678 ), personal physician to King Louis XIII, was credited with introducing special protective clothing for plague doctors during the epidemic in Marseilles. It consisted of a beak - like mask supplied with aromatic substance, presumed to act as filter against the odour emanating from the patients, and a loose gown covering the normal clothing. On occasions, a drifting fragrance such as camphor was used. Jump up ^ Pommerville ( Body Systems ), p. 15 Hirts, p. 66 Reynolds, p. 23 Jump up ^ Kenda, p. 154 Jump up ^ Geographical : the monthly magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, Volume 63, April 1991, p. 19, Plague doctors of the 14th century wore distinctive bird - like masks and were known as beak doctors. Jump up ^ Pommerville ( Body Systems ), p. 15 Ellis, p. 202 Byrne ( Encyclopedia ), p. 505 Sandler, p. 42 Paton Ulrich 's Periodicals Directory, ulrichsweb.com or email magazine at geographical.co.uk, Content Type : Academic / Scholarly Jump up ^ Time - Life Books, p. 158 Beak Doctor : during the Black Plague, a medical man who wore a bird mask to protect himself against infection. Black plague definition : In 14th - century Europe, the victims of the `` black plague '' had bleeding below the skin ( subcutaneous hemorrhage ) which made darkened ( `` blackened '' ) their bodies. Black plague can lead to `` black death '' characterized by gangrene of the fingers, toes, and nose. Black plague is caused by a bacterium ( Yersinia pestis ) which is transmitted to humans from infected rats by the oriental rat flea... medterm.com Jump up ^ THE PLAGUE DOCTOR Jump up ^ G.L. Townsend, `` The Plague Doctor '', J Hist Med Allied Sci, 20 ( 1965 ), 276. ( The image is on p. 277 ). Jump up ^ Nohl, pp. 94, 95 Sandler, p. 42 Goodnow, p. 132 Walker, p. 96 Jump up ^ Manget, p. 3 Jump up ^ Timbs, p. 360 Jump up ^ The Plague Doctor Jump up ^ Killinger, p. 95 Jump up ^ Carnevale Works cited Abrams, J.J., The Road Not Taken, Simon & Schuster, 2005, ISBN 1 - 4169 - 2483 - 3 Bauer, S. Wise, The Story of the World Activity Book Two : The Middle Ages : From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance, Peace Hill Press, 2003, ISBN 0 - 9714129 - 4 - 4 Boeckl, Christine M., Images of plague and pestilence : iconography and iconology, Truman State Univ Press, 2000, ISBN 0 - 943549 - 85 - X Byfield, Ted, Renaissance : God in Man, A.D. 1300 to 1500 : But Amid Its Splendors, Night Falls on Medieval Christianity, Christian History Project, 2010, ISBN 0 - 9689873 - 8 - 9 Byrne, Joseph Patrick, Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues, ABC - CLIO, 2008, ISBN 0 - 313 - 34102 - 8 Carmichael, Ann G., `` SARS and Plagues Past '', in SARS in Context : Memory, history, policy, ed. by Jacalyn Duffin and Arthur Sweetman McGill - Queen 's University Press, 2006, ISBN 0 - 7735 - 3194 - 7 Center for Advanced Study in Theatre Arts, Western European stages, Volume 14, CASTA, 2002, Dolan, Josephine, Goodnow 's History of Nursing, W.B. Saunders 1963 ( Philadelphia and London ), Library of Congress No. 16 - 25236 Ellis, Oliver Coligny de Champfleur, A History of Fire and Flame, London : Simkin, Marshall, 1932 ; repr. Kessinger, 2004, ISBN 1 - 4179 - 7583 - 0 Goodnow, Minnie, Goodnow 's history of nursing, W.B. Saunders Co., 1968, OCLC Number : 7085173 Glaser, Gabrielle, The Nose : A Profile of Sex, Beauty, and Survival, Simon & Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0 - 671 - 03864 - 8 Grolier Incorporated, The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 8 ; Volume 24, Grolier Incorporated, 1998, ISBN 0 - 7172 - 0130 - 9 Hall, Manly Palmer, Horizon, Philosophical Research Society, Inc., 1949 Hirst, Leonard Fabian, The conquest of plague : a study of the evolution of epidemiology, Clarendon Press, 1953, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Reviews of infectious diseases, Volume 11, University of Chicago Press, 1989 Kenda, Barbara, Aeolian winds and the spirit in Renaissance architecture : Academia Eolia revisited, Taylor & Francis, 2006, ISBN 0 - 415 - 39804 - 5 Killinger, Charles L., Culture and customs of Italy, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, ISBN 0 - 313 - 32489 - 1 Nohl, Johannes, The Black Death : A Chronicle of the Plague, J. & J. Harper Edition 1969, Library of Congress No. 79 - 81867 Manget, Jean - Jacques, Traité de la peste recueilli des meilleurs auteurs anciens et modernes, Geneva, 1721, online as PDF, 28Mb download Martin, Sean, The Black Death, Book Sales, 2009, ISBN 0 - 7858 - 2289 - 5 Mentzel, Peter, A traveller 's history of Venice, Interlink Books, 2006, ISBN 1 - 56656 - 611 - 8 O'Donnell, Terence, History of life insurance in its formative years, American Conservation Company, 1936 Paton, Alex, `` Cover image '', QJM : An International Journal of Medicine, 100.4, 4 April 2007. ( A commentary on the issue 's cover photograph of The Posy Tree, Mapperton, Dorset. ) Pommerville, Jeffrey, Alcamo 's Fundamentals of Microbiology : Body Systems, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2009, ISBN 0 - 7637 - 6259 - 8 Pommerville, Jeffrey, Alcamo 's Fundamentals of Microbiology, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2010, ISBN 0 - 7637 - 6258 - X Reynolds, Richard C., On doctor ( i ) ng : stories, poems, essays, Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0 - 7432 - 0153 - 1 Sandler, Merton, Wine : a scientific exploration, CRC Press, 2003, ISBN 0 - 415 - 24734 - 9 Sherman, Irwin W., The power of plagues, Wiley - Blackwell, 2006, ISBN 1 - 55581 - 356 - 9 Stuart, David C., Dangerous garden : the quest for plants to change our lives, frances lincoln ltd, 2004, ISBN 0 - 7112 - 2265 - 7 Timbs, John, The Mirror of literature, amusement, and instruction, Volume 37, J. Limbird, 1841 Time - Life Books, What life was like in the age of chivalry : medieval Europe, AD 800 - 1500, 1997 Turner, Jack, Spice : The History of a Temptation, Random House, 2005, ISBN 0 - 375 - 70705 - 0 Walker, Kenneth, The story of medicine, Oxford University Press, 1955 External links Media related to Plague doctors at Wikimedia Commons History portal Medicine portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plague_doctor_costume&oldid=803823603 '' Categories : Medical equipment Medieval costume Plague doctor Gas masks Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Français 한국어 Italiano Simple English Српски / srpski Edit links This page was last edited on 4 October 2017, at 21 : 32. About Wikipedia

Question: why does the plague doctor have a long nose
Answer: was a type of respirator which contained aromatic items