Plague

Plague, a contagious disease accompanied by fever and the formation of buboes or glandular swellings. Plague has not visited this country since the time of the Great Plague of 1665. It has prevailed, however, from time to time in Egypt and Asia Minor, and has been met with occasionally in Russia. The disease is an eminently fatal one, and bears considerable analogy to the malady known as typhus fever, but does not present the character Plaice (Pleuronectesplatessa), a flat fish allied to the flounder, frequenting sandy and muddy banks off the northern coasts of Europe, often passing into brackish and even fresh water. The upper side is olive, spotted with orange; the undersurface whitish; but the general hue of the fish harmonises with that of the ground on which for the time it rests. Buried all but the eyes in sand or mud, it lies in wait for its prey - principally molluscs. Trawl-nets and lines are used for plaice, and the flesh is valued for the table. The average length is about a foot, with a weight of three pounds, but much larger specimens are recorded.