Nathaniel Hodges

A king's scholar of Westminster School, he obtained a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1646.

[2] When the bubonic plague raged in London in 1665, Hodges remained in residence, and attended all who sought his advice.

Crowds of patients were always waiting, and for three hours he examined them and prescribed, finding some who were already ill, and others only affected by fear.

[2] After spending some hours in this way, he returned home and drank a glass of sack, dining soon after, usually off roast meat with pickles or other relish.

[2] In recognition of his services to the citizens during the plague, the authorities of the city granted him a stipend as their authorised physician.

His practice did not continue to increase, he became poor, was imprisoned in Ludgate Prison for debt, and there died 10 June 1688.

[3] In 1671, he completed an account of the plague, which was published in 1672 as Loimologia, sive Pestis nuperæ apud Populum Londinensem grassantis Narratio Historica.

Bezoar, unicorn's horn, and dried toads he tried and found useless, but he recognised the merit of serpentary as a diaphoretic, and of hartshorn as a cardiac stimulant.