The use of wood as a writing medium during the plague of Malta of 1813

Abstract

In the epidemiological history of the Maltese Islands, plague plays a very conspicuous part. At least three major outbreaks of this disease are on record, i.e. in 1592-93, 1675-76 and 1813. This last epidemic lasted from May 1813 to February 1814.1 The preventive measures adopted by the sanitary authorities of the time to stem the spread of the disease were the subject of a controversy that continued to engage the attention of the medical profession and of the British Government for many years after the cessation of the epidemic.