39. Living in Sewers
Most plague cures were based on superstition, ignorance, and dubious logic of the kind that put two and two together to come up with nine. An example is the line of reasoning that took people from figuring that the plague – or some variants thereof – was airborne, and the solution: head to the sewers.
People began visiting, and sometimes even living in, stinky sewers. It was thought that the sewers’ horrible stench would discourage the clean but disease-ridden air from coming near them. Not only did it not work, it also made those visiting and living in the sewers susceptible to other illnesses caused by their vile surroundings.