The Evolution of Views of Franz Karl Heintz, the Quarantine Physician of the Right-Bank Ukraine, Concerning the Reasons of Occurrence, Course and Treatment of the Plague

Abstract

In the years 1780–1781, Doctor Franz Karl Heintz hesitated about the diagnosis for a long time. Initially he thought he had encountered cases of ‘rotten diseases’. However, taking into account the experience of other European countries, he knew one had to be certain about the diagnosis given, especially when it concerned the most terrible infection. Only after some time he admitted was dealing with the plague. He was still optimistic though. He claimed that herbal medicaments were efficient in many cases. In 1786, already as the quarantine physician of the Right-Bank Ukraine, he sensibly assessed the potential of medicine regarding the plague. Although he based his project on the contemporary medicinal state of the art that went along with the 18th c. ideal of medical knowledge (he was a follower of Hippocrates, i.e. a supporter of humoral pathology), the most important components of the project were police-order in their character, which found a permanent place in the medical thought of that time.