Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Black lung
(1,345 words)

1. Pulmonary disease in the early modern period

Black lung (pneumoconiosis, “miner’s lung”) is a chronic disease of the respiratory passages caused by continuous inhalation of particular types of dust. Ancient authors like the Greek lexicographer Pollux and the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder were already aware that miners and metalworkers were often affected by respiratory diseases (which were then called ásthma or phthisía in Greek). But it was only in the context of th…

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Gadebusch-Bondio, Mariacarla, “Black lung”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_028234>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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