This plague doctor mask from the Deutsches Historisches Museum was developed in the 17th century, and the prototype is usually attributed to the French physician Charles de Lorne. It was not worn during the infamous Black Death pandemic of the 14th century, but rather a couple centuries afterward: for instance, during an outbreak in 1656 of the plague that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Western Europe. The mask features a long beak into which sweet-smelling herbs were to be stashed. The smells were of course desirable because many physicians ascribed to the miasma theory of contagion. The idea was that by smelling good things the “bad airs” which spread the plague would lose their ability to infect the wearer. N95s look petite in contrast.
Source(s): @History Answers website. June 2, 2014. “Why did doctors during the Black Death wear ‘beak masks’m” by Francis White.
