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CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY
OF
AN I MAL PLAGU ES
FROM B.C. 1490 TO A.D. 1800.
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#9632; I
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^BH
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BIBLIOTHEEK UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT
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2912 604 6
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ANIMAL PLAGUES:v^t^
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HISTORY, NATURE, AND PREVENTION.
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GEORGE FLEMING, F.R.G.S., etc.
PRESIDENT OF THE CENTRAL VETERINARY MEDICAL SOCIETY ; MEMBER OF COUNCIL OF THE
ROYAL COLLEGE OF VETERINARY SURGEONS ; VETERINARY SURGEON, ROYAL ENGINEERS ;
AUTHOR OF 'TRAVELS ON HORSEBACK IN MANTCHU TARTARY,*
AND #9632; HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING,' ETC.
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LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY.
1871.
{AilRights reserved.^
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JOHN C1IILDS AND SON, PRINTERS.
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Pis amp;xttlhn(% (ßarl ggtrittt, fx.fä.
LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND,
THIS WORK IS
DEDICATED IN RECOGNITION OF HIS IMPORTANT SERVICES
DURING A GRAVE CRISIS IN THE AGRICULTURAL
AND COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF
GREAT BRITAIN.
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it
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Non tarn creber agens hiemen ruit aequore turbo,
Quam multae pecudum pastes. Nee singula morbi
Corpora corripiunt, sed tota sestiva repente
Spemque gregemque simul, cunctamque ab origine gentum.
Virgil. Georgks, lib, iii. 470.
Non est in medico semper relevetur ut Eeger ; Interdum doctä plus valet arte malum.—Ovid.
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To be ignorant of what has occurred before our time, is ever to remain in a state of childhood.—Cicero.
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PREFAC E
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For very many years the subject of f Animal Plagues' has occupied a large share of my attention during the hours spared from more pressing every-day professional duties, and no opportunity of adding to a knowledge of it has been allowed to pass. Since 1865, when this country was much harassed and ravaged by a destructive exotic disease, its importance has greatly increased, and public attention has been much occupied by it. Previous to that year, the maladies of the lower animals, and particularly those of a contagious or spreading character, had received but little if any notice, save among a few members of the veterinary profession, who vainly attempted to point out their dangerous tendencies, and their baneful effects on the agriculture of the country, as well as their amenableness to legislative measures carefully carried out. The striking facts elucidated in this respect in 1865 and 1866, have corroborated, in every particular, the justness and value of these unheeded indications. It is scarcely necessary to say, that had the history of the malady then raging been better known, serious loss and embarrassment might have been avoided, and more credit would have been due to us as an enlightened people.
The science of Comparative Pathology has made but little progress in this country ; it has not been looked upon with much favour by the medical profession, and has been neglected altogether by successive
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Governments. In this respect Britain differs widely, and not to her advantage, from the smallest European state.
These researches into the history of animal pestilences were undertaken with the view of showing what an interesting and important study we had neglected,—a study in which the comparative pathologist, physician, general historian, agriculturist, or statesman will find much material for reflection.
Though so long ago as 177,5, Pauset published his classical work, ' Recherches sur les Maladies Epizoötiques,' which was translated into Italian by Lotti in 1785, and into German by Rumpelt in i77lt;5; and though this was followed by similar treatises by Adami (f Beiträge zur Geschichte der Viehseuchen.' Wien, 1781), Laubender ('Seuchengeschichte der Landwirthschaftlichen Hausthiere.' München, 1811), Guersent (' Epizoötie,' in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, 1815), Metaxa ('Delle Malattie Contagiose ed Epizoötiche. Roma, 1817), Dupuy (' Traite Historique et Pratique sur les Maladies Epizoötiques.' Paris, 1837), Bottani ('Delle Epizoözie delVeneto Dominio.' Venezia, 1819), Franque ('Geschichte der Hausthierseuchen.' Frankfort, 1834), Wirth (' Lehrbuch der Seuchen und ansteckenden Krankheiten der Hausthiere.' Zürich, 1146), Heusi nger (' Recherches de Pathologie Com-paree.' Cassel, 1853), and several other continental writers—all more or less incomplete,—yet, for the reasons before mentioned, no attempt has yet been made in this country to trace the history of these diseases, or to afford an indication of the sources from whence such a history was to be derived. It is therefore with diffidence that I venture to offer this history of British and foreign epizootics from the earliest recorded events of that kind up to recent times. For professional reasons, my opportunities for research have been few, else this contribution to the literature of the subject would undoubtedly have claimed more pretensions to accuracy and completeness. Nevertheless, no pains have been spared to make it what I intended it should be. The collection of materials for such a work was no easy task, the references to animal diseases of a general character in the early ages being only found in books which treat also of other matters, and are often very rare. From these and other causes I feel conscious that the result of my labours must be somewhat incomplete and unsatisfactory.
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Preface.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;vii
When possible, I have given translations of the passages in the several histories, following the ipsissima verba as closely as the sense would permit; when the descriptions have proved too long for complete transcription, a brief abstract has been-made j and when, at a later period, writings become greatly multiplied, an enumeration of the principal authors and the titles of their books has been given, in addition to a notice of the special maladies they have described. In this respect, Heusinger's excellent work has proved an invaluable source of reference.1
I have always been impressed with the idea that a history of many of the ' murrains ' that have travelled across countries, often in company with or preceding human pestilences, would prove a most valuable aid to the student of comparative pathology, and be of service to the busy-practitioner whose leisure is more limited; while to the physician, agriculturist, or statesman it might serve as a guide for reference whenever the diseases of animals shall occupy a larger share of scientific and public interest than at present. Acting on this impulse, the task was commenced, and nothing but the importance and interest that appeared to gather round it as I proceeded could have compensated for the labour required. Unsatisfactory as the result now appears to me, yet I trust it will be found acceptable and useful to those for whom it was written, as a treatise on a subject of national importance.
In considering the extent and the many difficulties attending such a work, I may say in the words of Pliny, quoted by Paulet, ' Res ardua,
vetustis novitatem dare, novis autoritatem,.....obscuris lucem,
fastiditis gratiam, dubiis fidem, omnibus verö naturam et natura suae omnia.'
1 In addition to this and the other works mentioned above, the following also treat of epizootic diseases, though generally in a didactic manner, and are seldom, if at all, noticed in the body of this treatise. Wollstdn. Das Buch von den Viehseuchen. Wien, 1811. Werner. Handbuch von den Seuchen des Viehs. Breslau, 1798. Bojanus. Anleitung zur Kenntniss und Behandlung der wichtigsten Seuchen unter dem Rindvieh und Pferden. Wilna, 1830. Flank. Grundriss der Epizoonologie oder Thierseuchenlehre. München, 1833.
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CONTENTS.
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PAGE
Introduction........ . . xv
CHAPTER I.
PERIOD FROM B.C. 1490 TO A.D. 400.
Early History of Animal Plagues. Egypt and its ' Murrains.' First Recorded Panzoöty in Ireland. Pestilence in Troy. Greek Historians and Plagues. Homer and the Siege of Troy. Droughts and their Effects. Rome and its Epizoöties. The Plague of Athens. Aristotle. The ' Abortus Epidemicus.' The Siege of Syracuse. Cato the Elder. Locusts. Virgil's Panzoöty. First Great Famine in Ireland. Comets and Eclipses. Columella. A ' Loimic' Plague. Irruption of the Huns. First Recorded Invasion of the ' Cattle Plague.' Vegetius Renatus...........1
CHAPTER II.
PERIOD FROM A.D. 400 TO A.D. 1500. 1
State of Veterinary Science. Hierocles and Pelagonius. First Recorded Mortality among Fish. Pestilence in Britain and Ireland. The Ligurian Plague. Variola and Cattle Disease in Italy and Gaul. Cattle and Horse Epizoöty in Touraine. Anthrax in France and Belgium. Destruction among Birds and Fowls. Murrains in England and Ireland. The 'Maelgarth.' Charlemagne's Campaigns. Mortality among Horses and Cattle. Great Irruption of the Cattle Plague from Asia into Europe ; Britain Invaded. War in Pannonia. Plague amongst Oxen in the Rhine Provinces. Locusts in Britain and Ireland. Arnulph's Campaign. Rabies in a Bear at Lyons. Death
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Contents.
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of Cattle and Birds in Ireland. Cattle Plague in France, Italy, and Germany. A 'Fight' among Birds. Mortality of Bees in Ireland. Disease among Cattle in the Roman Territories. Destruction of People and Cattle among the Saxons, Britons, and Gauls. Wales and its Agrarian Laws. Pestilences in England and Ireland. Ergotism and Carbuncular Fever in France and Germany. Plague of Rats. ' Conach' in Ireland. First mention of Swine Disease in Ireland. The ' Ignis Divina.' Plagues in Bavaria, England, and Ireland. The ' Ignis Sacer.' Severe Panzoöty in London. Dreadful Murrain in England and Ireland. Epizooty in Belgium and Germany. First Notice of ' Influenza.' The ' Feu Sacrd.' The Mongol Invasions and the ' Cattle Plague,' with Death of Sheep. Anthrax in Ireland. Disease in Mankind, Animals, and Fishes. Anthrax in England. Remarkable Epizoöty among Sheep. Ovine Variola : its History. Diseases of Sheep. Horse Epizoöty in Iceland, at Seville, and at Rome. Famine and Animal Plagues in England and Gaul. Influenza in Ireland. Deadly Epizoöty among Horses and Mules at Yemen. The ' Black Death' and Animal Plagues. The Manor of Heacham. Cattle Diseases in Somerset and Devon. The ' Second Plague.' Murrain among Deer in England. Epizoöty among Horses in the Abruzo. 'Signaculo.'nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; .........
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CHAPTER III.
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PERIOD FROM A.D. 150O TO A.D. I/OO.
Progress of Medical Science. Inclement Seasons. Blood-rain. Fracastor's Epizoöty. The ' Cattle Plague, in Friuli, Venice, France, Spain, and England. Its Transmission to Sheep. Epizoöty among Cats in England. The 'Tac' 'The Sweating Sickness' and Pestilence in Animals. Mortality among Cattle in England. Its Effect on the Mayor and Aldermen of London. Anthrax in Italy. Small-pox of Sheep on the Continent. Influenza. Plague of Mice and Murrain of Cattle in Kent and Essex. Rabies Canina. The 'Cattle Plague' in Italy : Goats affected. Epizoöty of Rabies in Paris. Disease in Cats at Constantinople. Epizoöty among Fowls in Bohemia. Anthrax in Italy : with the ' Cattle Plague' and Disease in Sheep. CatherineMiget. The'FlyingPestilence.' EpizoötyamongtheFrench Army Horses in Germany. Ovine Small-pox in Padua. Dangerous Disease among Fish. Destruction of Pelicans. Probable Outbreak of Cattle Plague in Italy : Sheep affected. General ' Rot' in Sheep and Cattle. Great Plague of London. Exanthematous Disease among Cats in Westphalia. ' Rot' in Denmark. Venomous Insects in Hungary. Disease in Fish in Germany. General Epizoöty of Glossanthrax on the Continent. Pestilential Mists. ' Foot and Mouth' Disease in Silesia. Influenza in Mankind and Horses in
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Contents.
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England and Ireland. Insects in Ireland. Diseases of Plants. Ramazzini. Diseases in Italy. Glossanthrax in Switzerland. Pul-monic Disease among Cattle in Hesse. Epizootic Catarrh among Horses. Ergotism in Man and Animals. Epizootic Ekzema in Hesse. Glossanthrax in Sweden. The Small-pox of Birds. Honey-dew and ' Mutterkorn.'.........
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CHAPTER IV.
PERIOD FROM A.D. 1700 TO A.D. 1715.
The Condition of Comparative Pathology in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Unpropitious Seasons. Importation of Horses into England Prohibited. A Chamois Epizoöty. Epizootic Ekzema in Franconia. Epidemic and Epizootic Influenza. ' Rot' in Sheep in Dublin. Commencement of the Great Epizoöty of ' Cattle Plague.' Kanold's History. Gerbezius. Schroeckius. Borromeo. Ramaz-zini's Description. Sheep Small-pox in England. Anthrax and an Epizoöty of Rabies among Deer in Hungary. Anthrax in France and Germany. Extensive Epizoöty among Horses on the Continent. Kanold and Lancisi's Descriptions. The Epizoöty of ' Cattle Plague' : Sheep and Gcats affected. Mortality among Cats in Hungary. Lancisi and the ' Cattle Plague.' Horse Plague in Italy. Ovine Small-pox in France and Italy. Canine ' Distemper.' in France. The ' Cattle Plague' in England. Bates' Description and Successful Management.........173
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CHAPTER V.
PERIOD FROM A.D. 1715 TO A.D. 1745.
Lanzoni on the Seasons. Sickness among Horses. The ' Cattle Plague' on the Continent. ' Rot' in Sheep in Ireland. Mortality among Bees and Carp in Silesia, and among Turkeys and Geese in Hungary. Horse Disease in Finland. Termination of the Epizoöty of ' Cattle Plague.' Fowl Mortality at Wismar and Silesia. Equine Glossanthrax in Silesia. Silkworm Disease in Italy. Rabies in Dogs. Invasion of Mice in Transylvania and Abortion in Cattle and Horses. Diseases in Provence. Epidemy in Peru and Disease in Animals. Ergotism in Silesia. Storks at Breslau. Laborious Parturition. ' Cattle Plague' in Sweden. Strange Epizoöty in the Venetian States. Death of Fish in Lake Constance. Ovine Small-pox in the Venetian States and France. Astruc's Observations. ' Sheep-rot' in Silesia, Poland, and Prussia. ' Cattle Plague' in Thuringia, Saxony, and Magdeburg. Disease in Mice in Silesia, and Rabies in Dogs and
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Wolves. Epizoöty of 'Grease' in Horses. Carbuncular Fever among Cattle in Germany. Bovine Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Switzerland. Fowl Mortality in Courland. Horse Influenza in England and Ireland. Epidemic Influenza and Diseases in Animals. Destruction of Fish. Plague at Cadiz. ' Cattle Plague ' in Russia, Germany, and the Venetian States. Goelicke and Bruckner. ' Strangles' among Horses in England. Remarkable Epizoöty of Glossanthrax. Epidemy and Epizoöty of Influenza. Gibson's Descriptions. Rabies in England and'Rot'in Hares. Poultry Mortality in Coburg. Great ' Sheep-rot' in England. The ' Cattle Plague ' in Italy. Dog ' Distemper' in South America. Cattle Disease in Scotland. Carbuncular Plague at Tobolsk. Great Sheep and Rabbit ' Rot,' and First Potato ' Rot' in Ireland. ' Cattle Plague' in Bohemia and Bavaria. Severe Seasons. Epidemic Influenza. ' Cattle Plague' in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland..............225
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CHAPTER VI.
PERIOD FROM A.D. 1745 TO A.D. 1771.
The 'Cattle Plague' in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and at Constantinople. Its Introduction into England. Mortimer's Description and Observations. Dr Lobb's Remarks. Malcolm Flemming and Dobson on Inoculation. Layard. Legislative Measures. Their Incompleteness and Futility. Terrible Destruction of Cattle. Treatises on the Malady. Its Re-introduction into England from Holland. Outbreak at Portsoy. Dr Cullen's Report. Layard's Account of Outbreak in Hampshire. The Malady on the Continent. Inoculation. Dossie's History of the ' Cattle Plague' Invasion : its Nature and Treatment. Progress of the Plague on the Continent. Clerc's Description. Grashius and Mauchart. Goats Affected. Ens' Report. Danish Physicians. Chomel and Sauvages. Goats and Sheep attacked in France. Courtivron, Blondet, Camper, and Engleman. Paulet's Remarks...........269
CHAPTER VII.
PERIOD FROM A.D. 1746 TO A.D. 1774.
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Sheep Small-pox. Locusts. Sheep-rot in England. Unfavourable Seasons. Epidemic Ergotism. Severe. Epizoöty of Influenza in England and Ireland. Osmer. Glossanthrax in Hanover. Horse Plague in Austria. Aphthous Fever in Franconia. Sheep Small-pox in Switzerland and Inoculation and Vaccination. Anthrax. 'Cattle
(I
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Contents.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;xiii
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Plague' at Eichsfeld and Minden. Anthrax at Minorca. Carbun-cular Epizoöty in France. Chaignebrun's Description. Anthrax in Finland and Russia. Glossanthrax at Verona. Aphthous Disease and ' Cattle Plague' among Reindeer in Lapland. Horse Influenza in England and Scotland. Epidemy and Epizoöty in Peru. Fish Mortality in France. ' Louvet' in Switzerland. Epidemic and Epizootic Influenza in England. 'Sheep-rot' in France. Cattle Disease in Austria. Great Epizoöty of Canine ' Distemper.' Epizoöty among Cattle in Sweden, and among Horses and Cattle in France. Glossanthrax in Switzerland. Numerous Epizoöties in Europe. Malignant Anthrax at Rochelle. Nicolau's Description. Extraordinary Epizoöty among Fowls. Aphthous Fever in Moravia, France, and Holstein. Sagar's Report. General Prevalence of this Malady. ' Cattle Plague' in Hungary and supposed Infection of Sheep. Unhealthy Seasons in England and General Mortality among Animals. ' Murie.' ' Cattle Plague' in Holland. Vicq-dAzyr's Observations. Epizoöty among Horses in Germany. Cattle Mortality in France and Italy. ' Cattle Plague' on the Continent. Dufot and Le Cat. Epidemic Plague at Moscow and Moldavia. Anthrax in St Domingo and Siberia. Animal Diseases in America. ' Distemper' in Dogs at Moscow and Wallachia. Destruction of Fowls in Germany. ' Foot and Mouth' Disease in Paris.. ' Cattle Plague' in Flanders. Haller's Memoir. Raulin and Faulet.......382
CHAPTER VIII.
PERIOD FROM A.D. 1774 TO A.D. 1800.
Anthrax at St Domingo. Epizoöty among Geese in Lorraine. ' Cattle Plague' in Holland and France. Outbreak in the Southern Provinces. Vicq-d'Azyr's Investigations. De Berg's Description. Bellerocq, Faur, Prat, Doazan, and Guyot. Paulet's Observations. ' Cattle Plague' in Spain and England. Epidemic and Epizootic Influenza in Europe. Epizootic Disease in Fishes and Fowls. ' Cattle Plague' at Minden. Anthrax in Finland. Disease among Oysters and Lobsters. Glanders in France. Mortality among Foxes and Wolves in Africa. Rabies in the Antilles. ' Ekzema Epizoötica' in Austria. Epizoöty among Horses near Turin. Death of Geese at Hanover. Anthrax in Germany and France. Cattle Diseases in Picardy. Vicq-d'Azyr's Memoir. ' Cattle Plague' in Austria, Styria, and Belgium. Prevalence of Anthracoid Diseases. ' Cattle Plague' in England. Influenza in Mankind, Horses, and Cattle. Darwin's Observations. 'Distemper' among Cattle in Derbyshire. Volcanic Eruption in Iceland. Its Disastrous Effects. Rabies in Jamaica. Anthrax in the Island of Grenada, Barbadoes, and on the Continent. Glossanthrax in Nassau and Anthrax at Lippe and in Bavaria, amp;c.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; /
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Effects of Unfavourable Seasons. Great Epizooty among Fowls in quot;^ Upper Italy. ' Rot' in Wurtemberg. Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia. Anthrax in Hungary. Spanish Sheep Foot-rot. Abortion among Cows in Italy. Invasion of Lemmings. Anthrax in France. Gilbert's Description. Anthrax in Bavaria. 'Cattle Plague' on the Continent. Various Writers. Epizootic Ekzema in the Tyrol and Verona. Acute Glanders on the Continent. 'Egg-rot' of Bees in Saxony. Extensive Epizoöty among Cats. Verminous Disease of Fowls in America. Glanders and Influenza in Horses. ' Foot and Mouth' Disease in Piedmont, the Venetian States, and Lombardy. Supposed outbreaks of ' Cattle Plague ' in England.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;. .nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 465
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INTRODUCTION.
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When a nation has passed from a savage or semi-savage condition— from that of the hunter or fisherman, caring but little for anything beyond what may be sufficient for the brief but precarious maintenance which is found in the chase—to the more civilized and civilizing state of a pastoral people, a great change is manifested in its character. The most noteworthy feature in this transformation is the high value that begins to be attached to those animals which, in the former stage of civilization, were pursued and destroyed in a wild state, but have now by kindness, and other means founded on motives of economy, become domesticated and soon form the wealth and well-being of their owners. From them the pastoral people derive their subsistence, in the form of food and clothing; and on them they rely for most essential services during life. In return, the welfare of these animals is carefully studie'd; their increase in number and in individual value is a matter of social as well as political importance; but the experience necessary for this successful increase and amelioration can only be acquired by long and close observation, the needful training for which exalts and expands the human mind.
Wandering with their flocks and herds to new pastures, when impelled by the seasons, by the multiplication of tribes and families, or by changes of a terrestrial character, these nomads, ever seeking for the prosperity and safety of the animals on which they depended for existence, were, in prehistoric times, the pioneers of civilization. Their dumb companions in these pilgrimages became, as it were, a
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XVI
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portion of their national life, and exercised no small influence on their moral and intellectual development—on their religion, manners, and customs ; this influence even extending itself to the language, the poetry, and the arts of these primitive shepherds.
The immense Steppes of Central Asia still furnish us with examples of this condition of the unsettled races who wander over them with their countless herds and flocks; and a recent traveller' in that region of the world pleasantly describes some of the scenes he witnessed among them. ' Just as the day dawned I turned out to examine our position, when I discovered the snowy peaks of the Syan-Shan. They appeared cold and ghost-like against the deep blue sky; presently they were tipped with the sun's rays, and shone forth like rubies. I sat on the ground watching the changes with much interest, till the whole landscape was lighted up. Immediately near me was a busy scene—on one side the men were milking the mares, to the number of more than one hundred, and carrying the leathern pails of milk to the quot; Koumis quot; bag in the quot; yourt; quot; the young foals being secured in two long lines to pegs driven into the ground. In front, and on the opposite side, the women were milking cows, sheep, and goats, and at a little distance beyond these the camels were suckling their young. Around the quot; aoul quot; (camp) the Steppe was filled with animal life. The sultan told me that there were more than two thousand horses, half the number of cows and oxen, two hundred and eighty camels, and more than six thousand sheep and goats. The screams of the camels, the bellowing of the bulls, the neighing of horses, and the bleating of sheep and goats, formed a pastoral chorus such as I had never heard in Europe.' On another occasion he writes: ' All were out with the dawn, and then commenced a scene in pastoral life highly interesting to me. I had left the quot; yourt quot; (tent), and looked around in every direction, but beheld only a mass of living animals. The whole of the herds are brought to the aoul at night, where they are most carefully guarded by watchmen and dogs placed in every direction, rendering it almost impossible to enter any aoul without detection. In my childhood I lived in localities where there were many horses and cattle, and used to think a flock of five or six hundred sheep a large one; but was now astonished by the numbers before and around me. The noise at first was almost intolerable—there was the sharp cry of the camels, the neighing of the horses, the bellowing of the bulls, the bleating of the sheep and goats, the barking of the dogs, and the shouting of the men.
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—a very Babel. I counted one hundred and six camels, including their young ; there were more than two thousand horses, one thousand oxen and cows, and six thousand sheep and goats. Even these, large as the number may appear, were far short of the total number of animals belonging to the patriarch chief: he had two other aouls, at each of which were one thousand horses and other cattle. Women were busy milking the cows, and the men were preparing to drive these vast herds to their pastures. The horses and camels are driven to the greatest distance—as much as ten and fifteen versts—the oxen come next, and the sheep remain nearest the aoul j but these ramble five or six versts away. It was, indeed, a wonderful sight when they were marched off in different directions, spreading themselves out in living streams, as they moved slowly along the Steppe.' '
Such is man in a pastoral condition. But when a suitable and propitious locality has been found for their animals, the wanderers perhaps become a settled people, and till the ground for themselves while still attending to the herds j and this combination of pursuits, which we term Agriculture, generally ensures a progressive and prosperous civilization. Humboldt,2 speaking of the Steppes or Llanos of the New World, thus philosophically demonstrates the influence of the larger domesticated animals on civilization and social progress : ' The Llanos separate the chain of the coast of Caraccas and the Andes of New Granada from the region of forests; from that woody region of the Orinoco which, from the first discovery of America, has been inhabited by nations more rude, and further removed from civilization, than the inhabitants of the coast, and still more than the mountaineers of the Cordilleras. The Steppes, however, were no more heretofore the rampart of civilization than they are now the ramparts of the liberty of the hordes that live in the forests. They have not hindered the nations of the lower Orinoco from going up the little rivers and making excursions to the north and the west. If, according to the various distribution of animals on the globe, the pastoral life could have existed in the New World,—if, before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Llanos and the Pampas had been filled with those numerous herds of cows and horses that graze there, Columbus would have found the human race in a state quite different. Pastoral nations living on milk and cheese, real nomad races, would have spread themselves over those vast plains which communicate with each other. They would have been seen at the period of great droughts,
1 Ibid., p. 289. quot; Travels in the Equinoctial Regions of America, vol. ii. p. 98.
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and even at that of inundations, fighting for the possession of pastures; subjugating one another mutually; and, united by the common tie ot manners, language, and worship, they would have risen to that state of semi-civilization which we observe with surprise in the nations of the Mongol and Tartar race. America would then, like the centre of Asia, have had its conquerors, who, ascending from the plains to the tablelands of the Cordilleras, and abandoning a wandering life, would have subdued the civilized nations of Peru and New Granada, overturned the throne of the Incas and of the Zaque (the secular chief of Cun-dinamarca), and substituted for the despotism which is the fruit of theocracy, that despotism which arises from the patriarchal government of a pastoral people. In the New World the human race has not experienced these great moral and political changes, because the Steppes, though more fertile than those of Asia, have remained without herds; because none of the animals that furnish milk in abundance are natives of the plains of South America; and because, in the progressive unfolding of American civilization, the intermediate link is wanting that connects the hunting with the agricultural nations.'
The primitive herdsman or agriculturist would soon discover that the domestication of animals sometimes entailed great sacrifices. While watching his stars and his gods for favourable omens, diseases unknown to him when the creatures were in a wild state, would appear ; and from their unusual character, the suddenness of their attack, and the great mortality attending them, would strike him with fear and amazement. In his sombre and crude belief in the agency of good and evil spirits, and in his ignorance of the influence of physical phenomena on health, he would only see in these visitations die operation ol malignant divinities. All barbarous and ignorant nations have ever substituted for the simple and universal laws of nature, which are unknown to them, the operation of spirits, genii, and strange gods. And when the benignant spirits have been made subordinate to those of a malevolent character, and his cattle decline and die, the half civilized man betakes himself to prayers, sacrifices, imprecations, and other rites to avert the loss and assuage his fears. At a more advanced stage he has recourse to magic to obtain a cure; the animal and vegetable, more rarely the mineral, kingdoms are ransacked; sorcery, enchantments, incantations, and other unreasonable and unhallowed rituals are devised to appease the wrath of the invisible destroyer; and while the potion is being prepared or administered, the mystic formula is uttered in a weird imploring voice to the offended spirit.
Among all people this has been the commencement of what we
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may term veterinary medicine; and even in recent times traces of this infantile belief have not been effaced from the customs of the most civilized nations of Europe. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Teutons, Celts, and other nations—pastoral and agricultural—all resorted to polytheism aud the kindred belief in incantations and magic for the cure of diseases. History often tells us how these dismal rites were carried out. With half-civilized communities at the present day, we have glimpses of these fantastic notions.
My friend, Mr Michie,1 tells us of a Mongol superstition, to the practice of which he was a witness. ' As a preventive against cattle being killed by lightning, a horse is devoted to the god of thunder— light grey or white being preferred. He is brought to the door of his owner's tent, and while the Shaman ceremonies are going on, a cup of milk is placed on his back. When the ceremonies are concluded, the horse is cast loose, the milk falls, and the animal is thenceforth sacred. No one may use him again, and, when he dies, his tail and mane are cut off and twisted into those of another horse, which, from that time, also becomes sacred to the god of thunder.*
But with advancing civilization and a higher development of the intellectual faculties, induced by favourable circumstances, the mind would begin to be disenthralled from the depressing influence of mysticism and impotent idolatry ; the benign or malign effects of physical agencies on the domestic animals would at first be almost inappreciably though certainly noted, and the skill of the age invoked to bring them more under the influence of the first and beyond the power of the second; while the measures adopted would often be, to a certain extent, aided by the instincts of the creatures themselves, who would naturally shun that which did them harm, and seek for those things which nature indicated as best for them.. Their guardians would not be slow in attending to these indications, and in this way would veterinary medicine receive its fundamental empirical teachings. Reason, the divine attribute of the human mind, thus prompted and directed by economic principles, and by that restless, resistless curiosity which seems to seize it whenever it has succeeded in emerging a certain distance from the obscurity of ignorance, would next exert itself to learn the connection between cause and effect; the phenomena of nature and of life would engage the earliest efforts of a dawning philosophy j and the actions and re-actions ever taking place between agencies external to the body and those operating within it, would lead to the
1 Overland Route from Peking to St Petersburg. London, 1864. P. 200.
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investigation of the causes of disease, and to their possible discovery in the organs or tissues of the stricken creatures.
In this manner may the science of medicine—human and comparative—have been begun, and the rudiments of its several branches been slowly but surely acquired. Hippocrates and many of the early physicians obtained their knowledge of anatomy only from the dissection of animals, and these men were the founders of modern as well as ancient medical knowledge. ' Choose an ape for dissection,' says Rufus, who lived about the time of Trajan, ' if you have one ; if not, take a bear j and if you have not a bear, take any animal you can get.'
The religious rites pertaining to auguries sought for in the entrails of animals; the examination of their bodies to discover whether, as food, they were pure or impure; and the offerings of portions of immolated creatures to their deities, were all aiding in this work, and offering grand opportunities for observation, notwithstanding the superstitions and impostures of the priests who officiated.
When the nomad saw that the pestilence among his flocks either preceded, accompanied, or was followed by another equally fatal to his own species, we cannot wonder that appeals and sacrifices were made to the supposed authors of such appalling destruction. In a comparatively late era, when a beautiful mythology had sprung up among the Greeks, and when epidemies and epizoöties appeared nearly always to accompany each other, this was more particularly observable. Apollo, who presided over flocks and herds, showered his arrows among them when displeased, and slew men and beasts alike by his vengeful but unseen darts. Homer speaks of the plague which prostrated the Greek camp at the siege of Troy, and ascribes it to the wrath of that deity, who was offended by an insult offered to Chryses, his high priest. But though deep-rooted superstition was fain to impose on the gentle god the blame of the hurtful visitation, the great poet does not forget to indicate a powerful auxiliary to the god's malevolence in the filth lying about the camp, and introduces Agamemnon who orders it to be thrown into the sea. This, if the first recorded step in sanitary reform, is certainly a notable one, and shows the inclination, even in those distant days, to break through the barriers of ignorance and credulity, by seeking out and removing the real causes of pestilential diseases.
In imperial Rome, so often the seat of fearful plagues, superstition played a prominent part, and during the prevalence of epidemic or epizootic disorders, the Senate had recourse to the SibylLne books and lectisternium to appease the ire of the enraged gods. And the Sallii,
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or priests of Mars, were not slow in procuring for themselves greater favours in attributing the abatement of pestilence to their manipulation of, and devotion to, the sacred shields. The true nature of the malady, or its predisposing or exciting causes, were seldom the subject for investigation. ' Pestis et ira Daum Stygiis sese extulit' was generally sufficient to account for its presence among them. Sacrifices, idolatrous prayers, and implicit faith in what the soothsayers or priests thought fit to teach, mark the history of these inflictions in early times. The terror and desperation induced by such a calamity as a plague is well illustrated in the instance cited by Baronius, in which we are told that a visitation of this kind raged with such fury at Carthage, that parents sacrificed their children to appease the gods.
In our own country many superstitious customs,, having reference to the preservation of the domestic animals, appear to have been derived from the early traders with Britain—the Phoenicians. Some of these rites, if they do not now exist, were at any rate in vogue at no very distant date. The worship of Baal, Bel, or Belus, the son of Nimrod, was a Phoenician rite. Fires were set blazing for him at certain times of the year, and if the object of their supplications demanded it, human beings were offered as a sacrifice; but on ordinary and later occasions, the person or animal for whom protection was entreated, rushed, or was driven rapidly through the flames. In the Highlands of Scotland, so late as the middle of the last century, the remains of this gross superstition were noted by Pennant. ' On the first of May, the herdsmen of every village in the Highlands hold their Bel-tien, or rural sacrifice. They cut a square trench in the ground, leaving the turf in the middle; on that they make a large fire, on which they dress eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk, and bring, besides, the ingredients for the caudle, plenty of beer and whisky, for each of the company must contribute something. The rites begin by pouring some of the caudle on the ground by way of libation, on which every one takes a cake of oatmeal, with nine square knobs raised upon it, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver of their flocks and herds, or to some particular animal, the real destroyer of them. Each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and flings it over his shoulder, saying, ' This I give to thee! preserve thou my horses; this to thee ! preserve thou my sheep ;' and so on. After that they use the same ceremony to the noxious animals. ' This I give to thee, oh fox, spare thou my lambs; this to thee, oh eagle; this to thee, oh hooded crow !'
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'When the ceremony is over, they dine on the caudle.'quot;
In Ireland 'Bel-tien,' according to Macpherson,2 is celebrated on the 2ist of June at the solstice, by making fires on the hill-tops, when people and beasts are made to pass through them, to ensure protection against pestilence.
Neither was the influence of the ' evil eye' less dreaded and guarded against by strange and oftentimes curious rites and customs. It is surprising to find this superstition existing widely over the world in ancient and modern times. Virgil's shepherd exclaims, 'Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos !' The Irish and Scotch believed that their cattle could be blighted by an evil eye ; the Mala-bars, Hindus, Arabians, Turks, and other eastern peoples wear charms to avert its influence; the Mahometans suspend objects from the ceilings of their apartments with the same intention ; in Ceylon the Singhalese place white vessels on their gables to guard against the mysterious agency, which the Tamils at Jaffna, in the same island, believe to work injury on their herds and flocks. Sir J. Emerson Tennent3 even asks if there is any hidden connection between the prohibition to covet contained in the tenth commandment, and the horror of the 'evil eye,' so frequently mentioned in the Old and New Testaments.
The fear and panic reigning in countries where plagues, either of man or the lower animals, have shown themselves, have never much abated; and at the present day, with all our science and enlightenment, the public mind is almost as troubled at their appearance as in earlier times : troubled not so much, perhaps, by the apparently inevitable destruction they are likely to cause, as by the mystery that shrouds their origin.
Thouo-h a Christian civilization has to a great extent removed the influence of superstitious ideas, with regard to the agency of evil spirits or spiteful gods, and though the polytheism of the heroic ages has been supplanted by monotheism, the commencement of these afflictions has still been often enough ascribed to sources as erroneous as before, and only too frequently the wrath of many gods has merely been condensed, if we may use the term, into that of one. Hebrew traditions have brought in the anger of Jehovah as a frequent cause of pestilence, and His displeasure as being made manifest, not on sinful man alone, but also on the unoffending creatures around him. The wise King, Solomon, a witness to the participation of the inferior animals in the
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1 Tour in Scotland in 1769, p. 100.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 Critical Dissertations.
3 Ceylon, vol. ii. p. 177.
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calamities which befell men, enunciated a truthful saying, when drawing a comparison between the lord of the creation and his less favoured companions, and which may have had reference to their suffering alike from plagues : ' For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts 5 even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast.''
To a people like the primitive Jews, next to a pestilence appearino-among themselves, was a plague among their herds and flocks. ' Blessed,' says Moses, ' shall thou be in the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.'2 And a curse from the Almighty was imagined to be the cause when the health of their cattle and sheep was blighted by sudden disease and death. The Egyptians were told, in the first plague which history mentions, that because they would not listen to Moses, or believe in his mission, ' Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep : there shall bt a very grievous murrain.'3 The displeasure of the Creator was the ever-present cause; agencies of a physical nature were left unnoticed, and doubtless ' murrains ' must have been frequent, general, and most severe, when the real exciting or predisposing causes were thus allowed to prevail unchecked.
The most striking examples of rampant superstition and gross ignorance meet us at nearly every step in our investigation into the history of animal plagues; and one is puzzled whether to lay most blame on those who led ignorant people astray, or on the people who could be so credulous and short-sighted as to be guided and ruined by designing or infatuated men. In the early Christian ages, the sign of the cross was burnt with a hot iron on the heads of menaced or already infected flocks, or their bodies were anointed with the oil and water from the lamps of some church in which reposed the musty bones of some saint or other; or at other times rows of such relics were lauded by the priests as efficacious remedies ; while all the time the diseases—their causes, nature, and distinctive characteristics—were entirely neglected bv the gullible priest-ridden people, until they were all but ruined, as is apparent in almost every page of the history of these visitations in the early and middle ages.
And ihe obstructive ideas which then prevailed have not even yet abated much in their rancour in many parts of the world. A displeased
1 Eccles. iii. 19.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;2 Deut. xxviii. 4.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;z Exod. ix. 3.
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or spiteful Creator is still appealed to by prayers, ceremonies, and sacrifices to remove the devastating pestilence that revels amid indolence, bigotry, filth, and impurity. It is generally so much easier to pray than to obey sanitary behests. Laziness and priestcraft would rather believe in the vengeance of an Almighty power than in the troublesome causes which need active exertion and enlightened minds for their removal or prevention. In the middle of the 19th century processions of Greek and Turkish priests stream barefooted through the plague-swept streets of Constantinople, the former uttering loud appeals for deliverance from the scourge, and the latter calling upon Allah to protect them, though they are opposing the most urgent sanitary measures as contrary to the teachings of the Koran; all the while the two perplexed sects, in their dismal peregrinations, can scarcely breathe for the putrifying matters surrounding them, through which they have to scramble as they best can, and which is directly or indirectly slaying its thousands of the benighted population.1 About the same period, in our own land, a dreadful contagion is decimating the herds and flocks; physicians prescribe impotent medical treatment ; fast-days are appointed, and prayers are offered for riddance of the disease, for whose advent various reasons are given, but which are generally on a par with those of the early period of civilization. The imported 'Cattle Plague' in Britain is quot;attributed by a learned priest (a Roman Catholic) directly to God's displeasure at our great love for animals, or 'cattle worship,' as he terms it; and he hesitates not to say of his own species, 'Perhaps the cholera is now sent to bring down the pride of the human intellect, and to compel the godless philosophy of the age to admire the intervention of the hand of God in all human events.'' In the mean time, all that is necessary is a little energy and wisdom on the part of statesmen and people to get rid of a contagion that is readily prcventible, and that should never have been allowed to appear, and at any rate to spread.
But we must not be too hard upon the enlightened bishop for declaring that kindness to animals, which we have always considered a virtue, and looked upon as a part of Scriptural injunction, should be visited with punishment not on sinful man but on the innocent ruminants. During the same visitation the most extraordinary opinions have been emitted by preachers of another religious sect. One of these worthies in particular traced the origin of the malady to our national,
1nbsp; See Thntf Correspondent's letter from Constantinople, daved September ist, 1865.
2nbsp; Dr Cullen. On the Approach of the Cholera Morbus and other Evils, 1865.
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but carnal love of beef, for which the murrain was 'sent as a Divine chastisement; and more than one clergyman declared the infliction of this painful malady on the creatures who had never sinned to be a mark of the Almighty's anger at the laches of the nation. There was no ahusion, however, to the fact of such countries as Ireland or France, which may have been equally sinful, evading the terrible punishment by a little judicious care, and the exercise of that power and knowledge with which a benevolent, and not a malevolent. Creator, had endowed them. Such doctrines are unworthy of Christians, and carry us back to ages when the perpetration of the most atrocious crimes and the cold-blooded slaughter of whole tribes of men, women, and children were laid to the favour or disfavour of the God of mercy and love.
On the Continent, St Cornelius and other saints of France, and St Antonio of Rome and Italy in general, are the protectors of four-footed creatures; and it is much less troublesome for their owners, and more profitable to the priests, to obtain exemption from an approaching plague through the merits of a mouldy saint than by the adoption of onerous, heretical measures of a hygienic kind, which do not benefit the Church.
This blind superstition and infatuation, almost amounting to profanity, and which is incompatible with reason or true religion, is now happily on the wane; but in' ages gone by it has acted most prejudicially, by diverting men's minds from the study of the nature and causes of diseases of this class. For what need was there to investigate or attempt to avert them, when they were sent from Heaven to punish sinful man ?
Chiefly for this reason, we are left much in want of positive information as to the character of the various epizootic diseases which have appeared since history first began to record them. As old as animated nature itself, their beginning is lost in the gloom of antiquity. The ancients, often completely ignorant of veterinary science, have left us but little information regarding them, for they seemed to dread transmitting more than vague generalities to posterity; and several of the detailed accounts are those of poets, who, in describing some one of those dreadful pests which spread far and wide, and caused fear and desolation to prevail, have probably had poetical effect more in view than accuracy.
Up to the 14th or 15th centuries, we can identify but few of the epizootics mentioned as occurring in the preceding eras; for the historians of the early, dark, and middle ages were men who were either unacquainted with the forms assumed by disease, and merely tell us of their
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disastrous eftects as public calamities; or they were priests, usually-only anxious to speak of the marvellous virtues of their prayers and mummeries in driving them from their localities. The natural events of a striking character which have either preceded or accompanied animal plagues,—and which might have led the inquiring mind to a more correct appreciation of the connection between them, and the appearance or disappearance of these maladies,—are, when noticed, generally too briefly described to afford any satisfactory guidance in this respect. It was generally considered sufficient to ascribe their advent to whatever might appear unusual in the celestial or terrestrial worlds; or, if these atforded nothing marvellous, to the wrath of a resentful deity. There was usually no attempt to chronicle those symptoms which would have rendered their descriptions of the greatest value to future historians; and it was, as a rule, only necessary to designate them by such general, though vague terms, as conveyed a striking idea of their deadly character, without preserving their distinctive features.
Thus it is that the word quot;^j deher, signifying plague, was employed in Hebrew speech to denote every kind of epidemic or epizootic disease; while the Greeks gave the collective denomination of Xotfjtvt, a plague, pestilence, or Xoifimri vouoc, a pestilential disease, alike to the general affections of men or animals, no matter what form they assumed or from what cause they arose. The Roman writers were no more explicit, but ambiguously styled them pestis, pestilentia, or strages pecorum; and the ignis sacer of Lucretius is scarcely more intelligible than any of the other terms employed.
The chroniclers of the Middle Ages, in transferring these designations to their own times, have added the equally indefinite appellatives of mortaiitas, clades, lues, amp;c. Undoubtedly these vague expressions arose from ignorance and want of observation; for the bodies of the affected, while alive, were seldom, if ever, carefully examined, and scrutiny or dissection of the dead which may have perished from plagues of the most diverse character, was neglected or forbidden. Pathological anatomy had not made such progress as to convince the popular mind of its value; and, besides, what was the need for this troublesome inquiry when these afflictions were believed to arise from sources beyond the reach or power of man.
Terms as little significative as those of less enlightened centuries, such as plague, murrain, distemper, amp;c., are still in use as popular designations for these maladies. The term ' murrain ' is, perhaps, for general purposes that best adapted to express that which technically
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is termed an epizoöty. It is a very ancient word, and is to be found in many languages besides English. For example, it appears in Italian as ' moria,' and in French as ' murie.' Its root is found in the Greek fiapaivio—maraino; in the Sanskrit 'mr,' the Latin 'mori,' German ' mar,' and the Celtic ' muire.'
Whatever term may now be employed, however, whether it be murrain, plague, distemper, or pest, thanks to science we need not fear its obscuring the real nature of the maladies designated, nor veil their possible sources by attributing them to agencies beyond man's powers of elucidation and control.
But from the circumstances before-mentioned, the historian of epizootic diseases who would endeavour to compile a satisfactory chronological account of those visitations which have from time to time swept the plain, the homestead, and the stable of their occupants, previous to the centuries indicated, has but a slender chance of doing more than citing meagre facts, solitary, or in opposition to others v/hich might otherwise give these facts more interest and certainty. Even to do this, he must labour earnestly, and gather from many sources the clue necessary to guide him in fixing the advent and duration of these maladies; and after all has been accomplished, in the immense majority of instances he will find himself unable to tell with precision what were the morbid characters distinguishing them from each other, or from diseases existing euzoötically elsewhere. The only advantage he might obtain in thus studying the plagues of the domestic animals, would be, at rare intervals, to find in the geographical invasion of certain epizootics a marked connection between them and contemporary events, which might authorize him in making deductions of some value. It must be borne in mind, also, that famines, droughts, and the destruction of vegetation by locusts and various causes, as well as other mishaps, would affect domesticated and feral creatures no less, perhaps, than mankind; but that in very many instances the sufferings of these would have remained unrecorded when the panic and mortality among his own species entirely engrossed the attention of the historian. Hence, in reading of particular epidemies, particularly in the early centuries, we are only able to guess at the existence of contemporary epizootics; and as it would be departing from one object of this work, I have in most instances omitted any mention of plagues described as affecting the human race only.
It is not until we approach the commencement of the 18th century, that the study of animal plagues becomes really interesting and satisfactory, and that research is abundantly rewarded by the fullest descrip-
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tions of these visitations; for we find facts grouped according to their afliuity in the series of cause and effect. This scientific method of transmitting what should be known of the history and nature of animal diseases to future generations, was inaugurated by the Italian physician Ramazzini, who undoubtedly laid the foundation for accurate observation in this department of vetciiiiary science. And to this philosopher history is indebted for much that is known of one of the greatest epizootics of modern days. From that time to the present, maladies of this class have been neither few nor far between; but observers have rapidly increased in number, and in proportion as these have attained the scientific proficiency necessarv for such a difficult study, so have the nature of animal plagues, and the measures needed for their mitigation and prevention, become better known.
A detailed description of all the epizootic or panzoötic diseases which have occurred would occupy far too large a space, and might not after all be a very useful study; those occurring within the last two or three centuries, however, deserve much attention, as competent men have exerted themselves to discover their origin, trace their affinities, define their characteristics, and, best of all, to modify or avert ^heir desolating influences. A record of epizootic diseases founded on history and accurate observation, cannot fail to be a work of great importance to medical science and to civilization. Nothing can be more useful than to possess the most exact details as to the character, progress, duration, and termination of these maladies, and especially if our knowledge of pathological changes of structure be brought to bear in observing and describing the organic lesions effected by them.
The comparative pathologist can no more afford to dispense with the history of diseases, than the healer of mankind, especially those of a general character; for in proportion as he knows the past, he is in a belter position to control the present, and make provision for the future. As an eloquent writer remarks, when about to describe an epidemic disorder whose cause was very obscure : ' No single generation of medical practitioners can be expected to possess a sufficient range of observation, or to accumulate adequate materials of information on the subject, to enable them to detect the clue by which to thread the intricacies of this inquiry. The past must be scrutinized, and its reflected light brought to our aid ; old and new facts when collated, by the harmony which they exhibit, become mutually illustrative, and acquire a value previously unknown. It is true, that medical records abound in fallacious and imperfect observations, transmitted from one generation to another, and that popular prejudices have exercised an influence in dis-
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seminating error, which the obstinacy engendered by the evidence of imperfectly observed facts has tended to confirm and to perpetuate; but it is possible to manifest too indiscriminate a contempt for statements which partake of popular superstition.'
Vicq-d'Azyr truly says, that if there is in medicine an object worthy the investigation of scientific men, it is without contradiction the pestilential epidemic diseases. Obscure and often mysterious in their causes, rapid in their progress, perplexing in their symptoms, and murderous in their effects, they often sweep away the majority of the individuals attacked, and through their violence put it beyond the power of the physician to diminish the number of victims. And the illustrious Hecker justly affirms that the study of epidemic diseases ' is a subject in which science is deeply interested, and which, according to the direct evidence of nature herself, is one of the most exalted and important that can be submitted to the researches of the learned. How often,' he adds, 'has it appeared on the breaking out of epidemics, as if the experience of so many centuries had been accumulated in vain. Men gazed at the phenomena with astonishment, and even before they had a just perception of their nature, pronounced their opinions, which, as they were divided into strongly-opposed parties, they defended with all the ardour of zealots.'
The study and prevention of animal scourges, as we have seen, is scarcely second to those affecting our own species, but they are attended with even greater difficulties. The healer of men, consulted when a pestilence is raging, and when death is seizing numberless victims, can, as we are all too painfully aware, afford but little aid. The rapidity with which the disease does its work, and its generally obscure nature, throws him into a sea of doubt, from which he can but slowly, if at all, extricate himself. He who ministers to the ailments of animals, and who ordinarily has to contend with obstacles to which the other is a stranger, is seldom in a better plight when a formidable spreading disease visits one or more species. Those people among whose herds a malady of this kind first appears are too often the opposite of intelligent, and usually see in its invasion the simple effects of some vulgar cause which they imagine can be easily determined; while in the death of their cattle they are only conscious of a local and individual loss, far from involving the most insignificant interests of their country.
As in man, when general diseases or ' plagues ' first appear in the lower animals, they are usually very acute, and in consequence of this, of the suddenness of their attack and the rapidity of their course, as well as their tendency to spread, it is a matter of the utmost import-
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ance, in order that a nation be spared great loss, inconvenience, and anxiety, that the science of comparative pathology should receive that wide and judicious study and that fostering care to which it may with great justice lay claim. And as it is yet in its infancy in this country, and is obliged to contend with prejudice and charlatanism, it cannot be wondered at that great losses have been sustained, that the science of medicine in general should make but little progress, and that the defective state of our sanitary police should merit the derision of continental nations.
The medicine of the lower animals differs from that of man in no particular, perhaps, so much as in those principles which may be termed ' utilitarian.' The life, or rather the vigour and sound condition, of all the domestic animals, has a money value which greatly modifies considerations of a curative kind, when health and usefulness are replaced by disease and inefficiency. The life of man, though it be robbed of nearly all its attractions or utility, is yet considered too sacred to have a mere pecuniary value. But that of the creatures we have domesticated is in almost every case worthless, if, when they are attacked by disease, the expense of medical treatment exceeds their market price, even though a thorough cure may be possible. But when there are doubts as to the certainty of complete restoration to health and soundness, monetary considerations ordinarily decide against the adoption of remedial measures.
This peculiar feature in the medicine of the domesticated animals, brings all the more prominently before us the value of the old adage that ' prevention is better than cure.' The comparative pathologist must not only be well skilled in all those branches of science of which medical knowledge is composed, and be able to minister to the varied and numerous ailments of the domestic animals, but above all he should be thoroughly conversant with the history and nature of general diseases, their causes, particularly their mode of extension, as well as the best measures to recommend for their prevention and eradication, so as to be able to guard the country from the risk of serious loss and embarrassment.
In Britain, as before mentioned, the value of comparative pathology, in the relation it bears to human medicine, to the public health, to agriculture, and to legislation, has been strangely overlooked,—and this, in recent times, has not only been the cause of a great national calamity, but to some extent a national disgrace. -
In consequence of this neglect, but little allowance has been made for the difficulties the comparative pathologist has to contend with, nor
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has the chief object of this science received much consideration. The rare instances in which animals can be seen by the Veterinary Surgeon in the earliest stages of disease,—when it would prove most amenable to medical treatment,—due to the incapacity of those who have the care of them to recognize these early periods ; the fact that animals cannot, except in a negative way, tell their wrongs or explain their sensations; the absence of those accessories and comforts of the sick-room which cannot be called in to ameliorate their condition ; the violence or stupor, as well as the structural arrangements and position, of the plague-stricken creatures ; the many obstacles to their complete segregation when the malady is of a contagious character; the slender means generally afforded for attending to recommendations and injunctions; and the oftentimes intractable nature of general diseases, as well as the utilitarian influences spoken of above;—all these, in the majority of instances, militate against the adoption of curative measures, and add a thousandfold to the value of those which have the prevention of disease for their object. And these considerations demand that the whole aim and skill of the comparative pathologist should be employed not in curing, but in preventing disease.
That this object has in this country formed but an insignificant element in medical teaching, is amply illustrated in the history of the cattle epizoöty of 1865, when this easily suppressed scourge was allowed to spread over the land through the silly endeavour to exorcise it by pills, potions, and fantastic nostrums prescribed by men who neither knew the organization of the animal nor the nature of the malady for which they were prescribing, and this despite the urgent remonstrances of those who had studied veterinary science.
To the comparative pathologist, the history and investigation of animal plagues will ever be of paramount interest, as they must always demand his most earnest study. To discover their affinities in the various species of animals brought under the dominion of man, to ascertain all that can be learned of their nature and the laws by which they are governed, as well as to elucidate the causes which originate them, and their mode of propagation, is no light task; but it is only by this study that he can reasonably hope to resist them with success.
Besides this, their investigation is a most attractive occupation for the enlightened mind, apart from its practical bearing. An introduction is afforded to subjects of the mightiest importance in the physical and organic worlds; and the wonderful relationship which exists between life and the elements surrounding it—the reciprocal influence of these, and the connection between cause and effect — are the most in-
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teresting and engrossing of any subject the human intellect can grasp for examination. In the beautiful language of Hecker, ' that Omnipotence which has called the world with all its living creatures into one animated being, especially reveals himself in the desolation of great pestilences. The powers of creation come into violent collision j the sultry dryness of the atmosphere; the subterraneous thunders; the mist of overflowing waters, are all the harbingers of destruction. Nature is not satisfied with the ordinary alternations of life and death, and the destroying angel waves over man and beast his flaming sword.'
To the general historian, the history of these plagues proves a valuable guide in determining the progress of mankind, by showing the checks which have tended to retard that progress and have often produced marked changes in the manners and customs of a nation, in peace as in war. In this history we can clearly trace the advance of human improvement.
To the medical philosopher who desires to see his science stand on the broadest basis, as well as to the lover of his species, the study of general diseases in animals cannot fail to be of much moment. The same class of causes which generate epidemic maladies are, we may be certain, fertile in inducing similar diseases in the lower animals, and perhaps also in plants, on which the human family so much depends. For it has been a matter of common observation from the earliest times, and our history will testify to its accuracy, that widespread pestilence in plants, and murrain in animals, have frequently either preceded, accompanied, or followed closely on those visitations which caused mortality and mourning in the habitations of men ; showing an identity of causation or affinity which strongly tempts the inquirer to solve the secret of their joint production. And when it is remembered that some of the animal plagues are readily transmissible to man, and often induce deadly maladies in him, there is additional incitement to their study.
To the agriculturist and political economist a knowledge of the history of these affections must always be of the most pressing importance, as the science of comparative pathology has clearly shown that many of the diseases of animals which are indigenous to our soil may be deprived of their generating causes, and thus be altogether abolished.
Up to a recent period, the almost isolated position of Britain, with her superb flocks and herds, her matchless breeds of horses, and her fine pastures, has rendered her comparatively secure against an invasion of those dread epizootics which are foreign to her shores. Since, however, her ports have been opened to the importation of animals from all parts
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of the world, ancj since communication by sea and land has become so rapid and extensive, she is scarcely more exempt from these afflictions than her continental neighbours. Nor is she so well prepared to encounter them. The science on which other nations rely, and with such benefit, to suppress these contagions, has scarcely yet found a home in Britain.
When a destructive disease threatens the domestic animals, and, through them, the most valuable section of our national wealth, it should be the duty of all concerned to obey the dictates of science and experience, in order to avert danger and loss. But it must be confessed that to attain successful results individual efforts go for little. It is on the strict observance of sanitary laws, and to the wise measures prescribed by authority, that reliance must be placed. In the words of an eminent medical writer, 'The day has gone past for an isolated individual or craft to avert pestilence, as Empedocles did when he shut out the sirocco by stopping a mountain-gap, and removed intermittent fevers by changing the course of the river Hypsa. These large and beneficent operations are in our day reserved for Governments; and our duty as a profession is to urge upon Government, by means of our own governing bodies, the necessity of undertaking the prevention of epidemic disease, both among men and animals, to point out the best modes of securing this prevention, and to see that these measures, when become law, are properly carried out. In a word, it is our duty not to appropriate to ourselves, as is too often erroneously done, but to endeavour to impress upon our rulers the sentiment so nobly urged upon Caesar by Tully, ' Homines enim ad Deos nulla re proprius accedent quam salutem hominibus dando.'
Agriculture must ever occupy a higher position than manufactures; and the prevention of epizootic diseases should be regarded as a political question, involving more or less the well-being of the whole community; not merely affecting those who own or who endeavour to derive profit from rearing animals, but also affecting the public at large, as regards health, the supply of food, and other essentials. In the extension of a disease of this kind, not only is there loss to the individuals who possess the animals, but also to the public, who have not only a diminished quantity or more expensive supply of food, but also often incur the risk of obtaining it of an inferior or injurious quality, or are otherwise inconvenienced.
No more startling fact is afforded us in the history of animal plagues, than that which proves that the cattle of this country have been persecuted by contagious diseases of a most destructive character for nearly
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thirty years without any attempt worthy of the name having been made to check them, though they were, and are now, of a preventible nature, and spread solely through the medium of infectious or contagious principles. The losses from only two exotic bovine maladies (' contagious pleuro-pneumonia ' and the so-called ' foot and mouth disease' ) have been estimated to amount, during the thirty years that have elapsed since our ports were thrown open to foreign cattle, to 5,549,780 head, roughly valued at ^'83,616,854. The late invasion of c Cattle Plague,' which was suppressed within two years of its introduction, has been calculated to have caused a money loss of from five to eight millions of pounds. But these examples and estimates, after all, give but a slender idea of the devastation, misery, embarrassment, and loss that has been due to our ignorance, apathy, and neglect of the teachings of veterinary and sanitary science, which must, nevertheless, claim the merit of having conclusively demonstrated that the most formidable diseases can be readily repressed or altogether abolished, though not by attempting to cure them; and having done so, nothing remains for these sciences to accomplish than to indicate the steps necessary to make the legislation of a wise Government effective in its dealings with animal plagues in general.
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HISTORY
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ANIMAL PLAGUES.
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CHAPTER I.
PERIOD FROM B.C. I490 TO A.D. 400.
History can never inform us of the lonor-continued and great losses which have befallen the nomadic tribes, many of whom have never heard bread even mentioned, and who derive their subsistence entirely from the milk and flesh of their domesticated animals.
True, the fossil remains of creatures exposed now and then in the upper crust of the earth make us acquainted, to a certain extent, with diseases to which the lower orders of creatures were subject, ' long ere the waters overflowed and the mountains sank/ but their feeble testimony serves us but little. We can only learn that infinite myriads paid their debt to nature untold ages before mankind appeared in the world; but of the cosmical changes which induced their destruction, or the general maladies which may have swept oft' whole species, we are in ignorance.
So that, in reality, the history of epizootic diseases, as noted in the records of civilization, is limited, and embraces but a small portion of that great history which can never be written, because the materials for it have never been chronicled.
Our earliest researches begin with the land of Egvpt as the unenviable birth-place of plagues affecting the inferior creatures, no less than mankind. Its geographical position and its physical
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confijruration have contributed much to render it insalubrious. The lower country is annually exposed to far-spreading inundations by the flooding of the Nile; and the retiring sea leaves behind it a reeking morass, which, owing to the nature of the
(
deposit left behind, together with the large amount of moisture, and the hot sun shedding its rays direct upon it, shortly after becomes a beautifully green plain, covered with the rankest and most luxuriant vegetation, and pools of stagnant corrupted water. Then quickly succeeds a period when it is an arid desert, deeply laid with dust and hot sand, and endowed with nothing that could tend to the welfare of animal life.
The indefatiscable professor of the school at Abou Zabel, M. Hamont, says of Egypt, relative to epizootic maladies: 'The breed of cattle in Egypt is generally weak in constitution, and neglected. Epizootic diseases frequently effect the most dreadful ravao-es among them ; sometimes they devastate the country to such a degree that men are harnessed to the plough and the cart, in order that the land may be, although imperfectly, cultivated, and some assistance obtained.' Horses suffer much from farcy, and the same authority adds: 'Softening of the liver in Egypt is a primitive and essential maladv, very widespread in the army and in the country, more common in summer than in winter, and attacking by preference the fettest horses, and those of an adult age. It is a very redoubtable disease, and kills many horses/
Intestinal hemorrhages are also very frequent and most fatal to horses. These animals—cattle, sheep, and camels, also—suffer from a deadly dysentery. Hamont continues: ' Dysentery is very common in summer among troop and other horses, attacking those which live in the open air, as well as those which inhabit low, badly ventilated stables. In regiments there sometimes breaks out, during the months of July and August, an acute form of dysentery which kills the horses in a few hours. The mud, earth, and sand which the water of the Nile contains, and which these animals drink, is the cause of this dysentery; these matters are found in the intestines. The great crowding of animals, the intense heat, too dry and unvaried food, are also determining causes. . . . The dysentery of cattle is especially
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widespread, attacking the oxen in the villages and towns, and all over the country; as well as the government herds. It is a murderous disease, destroying life with great rapidity. . . . The dysentery of camels is sometimes acute, sometimes chronic, and kills a very great number; when it is acute its course is very rapid. At Cairo, the camels are lodged in great enclosures open on nearly every side. There they pass their days and nights in the cold season, after a very hot summer, and in this state, of course, they must experience the troublesome effects of the sudden diminutions of temperature which take place.'
One of the forms of anthrax, which is enzooticand epizootic in Egypt, appears to be very destructive among cattle in the form of gangrenous sore-throat. ' This disease reigns over the whole of Egypt in winter, summer, springtime, and autumn. It is contagious, and carries off the animals in two, four, and six hours. It has its seat in the throat; a tumour appears there, quickly increases in size and extent, and at last causes death. The expired air and the saliva communicate the disease, as experience has testified. It is sporadic, enzootic, and epizootic, and its causes are unknown. If the practitioner arrives in the commencement of the disease, he ought at once to apply the actual cautery to the throat, then some blistering ointment.'1
Splenic apoplexy is also very frequent among ruminants, and malignant pustule is seen in the horse in the months of May and June, during the prevalence of the very hot wind of the Kames-sine. On the extreme confines of history—but not until long after civilization had made great progress—and among its earliest notices, do we find striking descriptions of the havoc that reigned in that ancient region.
In the 80th year of the life of Moses, in the reign of Pharaoh IV., King of that country, f a very grievous murrain,' known as the ' Fifth Plague,' fell upon the flocks and herds of the Egyptians, and destroyed them. Many perturbations in the natural world were noted. After a damp winter, an unhealthy summer set in, the days being hot and fiery, the nights cold and dewy, and sometimes rainy. Towards the autumn there was thunder and
1 Ilamont. L'Egypte sous Mehemct Ali, vol. i. pp. 564, 565, 574, 57quot;, 5S3.
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lightning, heavy hailstorms, and excessive drought. The air seemed pestilential, and as if of fire, while the nights were damp and chilling. Storms of sand and dust thickly enveloped everything as they were borne along on the sultry wind ; and cattle, as well as the human species, were exposed to great risk of suffocation. The waters, owing to their impregnation with some substance, or to the sudden appearance of some animal or vegetable matter, became of a red or blood colour. In the rivers and streams all the fish died ; and these, as well as the lakes, became putrid throughout the lowlands of Egypt. The peculiar condition of the atmosphere, and the corrupt state of the water, caused the rapid growth of immense swarms of frogs, which invaded every place. By some unknown agency these were all destroyed, and when their remains were gathered into great mounds by the fear-stricken inhabitants, the disgusting odour from the putrefying heaps became a deadly poison. Vermin covered the bodies of men and animals; clouds of winged insects harassed them night and day; and these misfortunes, together with the tempestuous weather, originated a fearful pestilence among all the domestic creatures then kept by the Egyptians. The human species were next attacked, and suffered much; and a terrible storm of lightning and hail destroyed cattle and vegetation. Masses of locusts, carried over the land by the east wind, blackened the face of the earth and devoured what was left of the herbage. Other horrors were added, and, to crown all, a dread distemper slew the firstborn of man and beast.
If we can judge by the meagre description of the maladv that attacked the Egyptians at the same time that their cattle were suffering, and which was known as the ' sixth plague/ the epidemy and epizoöty would appear to have been of a carbun-cular nature.1 Panlet2 remarks, with reference to the character of the disease: f II y a apparence que ces ulceres etoient la suite de tumeurs inflammatoires, n'etoient autre chose que des char-bons on des bubons pestilentiels, surtout de charbons, couvcrts de cloches on de vescies, qui s'abscedoient, ce qui arrive souvent dans ce cas, et constituoientune peste, vraisemblablement moins
1 Exodus, chap. ix. - Reclierches sur les Maladies Epizoötiques. Paris, 1775- Vol. i. p. 22.
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meurtriere que la preiniere, qui fut mortelle pour tous les ani-maux, et designee par ces mots, pestis valde gravis. Ce qui suppose un degre de force de plus.'
Whewell1 says that it is supposed the murrain only attacked those cattle which were exposed on open pasture; another proof as to the probability of the disease being anthrax. A still stronger proof than this, however, is to be found in the exemption of the cattle of the Israelites from the plague of boils as well as flies, and which has been judiciously ascribed, I think, to the fact, that ' the land of Goshen, in which the Israelites dwelt,' was sandy pasture above the level of the river, while the rest of Egypt was low-lying, and its soil submerged by the rising of the Nile.2
We might surmise, however, that the Israelites and their flocks and herds escaped destruction owing very much, besides the miraculous intervention of Providence, to the great care with which Moses inculcated upon that people the necessity for separating the clean from the unclean, the healthy from the diseased, and taught the value of disinfection;3 as if the influence of contagion had been already known to mankind.
That the Egyptians were acquainted with the Veterinary Art from a very early period is certain, for on their most ancient frescoes veterinary surgeons are accurately depicted attending to the maladies of oxen and other animals, while the written characters indicating physician or doctor of these various creatures are plainly inscribed underneath the paintings.4 We can well imagine the severe trial their skill would undergo in contending with such a murderous pest as that just noticed.
B.c. 2048 (a.m. 2820.) Anepidemyand epizoöty in Ireland. The Partholani, or tribe of Parthalon, waged war with 'rebellious miscreants and tyrannous giants/ whom they utterly annihilated in a fierce battle, and cast their carcases out 'like a sort of dead dogs, whereof through stinke of the same, such an infective pestilence ensued in all places throughout the island, by corruption of the ague, that few escaped with life except those that got them
1 History of the Jews.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 Westwood. The Entomologist's Text Book.
3nbsp; Leviticus, chap. xiii.
4nbsp; nbsp;Wilkinson. Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians.
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away by sea; yea, the infection was so great of those cursed carcases of Cham and his posterity, that the dogs and wolves died thereof.'1 The chronology of the Irish epizootics up to the Christian era is not so well established as one could desire. I can only make an approximation to the dates, those given in brackets being the ones shown in the ' Census of Ireland for the year 1851, part 5.#9632;'
B.c. 1260. To Seneca we are indebted for the description of an epizoöty and epidemy in Troy during the reign of King Laomedon. ' The first fury of the pestilence struck the listless sheep by their loathing the rich grass. The priest stood ready to strike, whilst his hand raised on high threatened instant death. The sluggish bull with gilded horns staggers: with unrestrained neck, he suffers from a tremendous blow. Nor did his blood stain the iron instrument with which he was killed for sacrifice. Black corrupt blood welled forth from the wound. The horse, still more torpid, fell in his course in the ring, and threw his rider with his shoulder to the ground. The cattle in the fields lie down. The bull, the herd perishing, pines away. The shepherd is disheartened, his herds and flocks being diminished, and he dies in the midst of the rapidly wasting oxen. Thestags do not fear the ravenous wolves ; the roaring of the angry lion ceases; there is no fierceness in the shaggy bear; the slothful snake exhibits symptoms of the plague, is dried up, and dies with his poison vapid. The woods lack their beautiful foliage, which usually affords shade to the dense mountains. The country does not flourish with the fruitfulness of the soil/2
(a.m. 3197.) Grafton, speaking of Riuallus, King of Britain, who reigned at this period, writes : ' In his time (as Gau-fride saycth) it rained blood by the space of three days continually within the land of Britain. After which rain ensued a great and exceeding number and multitude of flies, the which were so noisome and contagious that they slew many people. And after this (as sayeth an old author) ensued great sickness and mortality, to the great desolation of this land.'3
1 JFanmer. Chronicle of Ireland.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 CEdipus, v. 37, 70, 124, 201.
3 Grafton. A Chronicle at large and Meere History of the Affayres of Eng-land. London, 1569.
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(a.m. 39.72.) In Ireland it is mentioned that 'every cow that was calved in Findoll's reign was white-headed.'1
b.c. 1200. During the reign of Minos, the island of ^Egina was visited by a plague which did fearful injury to living creatures, and which Ovid has most graphically described. M. Paulet imagines the disease to have been a form of gangrenous sore-throat, accompanied by acute fever, and perhaps erysipelas, and of a contagious nature. The cause of it, of course, was the wrath of an enrasred sod, though the long-continued heat and
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damp state of the weather, predisposing to malignant and putrid disease, is not overlooked in the description. The poet3 makes the distressed iEacus relate its commencement and course. Dogs, birds, sheep, and oxen, as well as wild creatures, were attacked by the pestilence before mankind, a fact, worthy of notice in this poem, which, as might be expected, bears traces of exaggeration and fanciful description, mixed up with much that must have been gathered from observation.
The early Greek historians have left but few records of pestilential diseases among the domestic animals. The fathers of medicine may have bestowed more attention on the maladies incidental to their own species than to those of the creatures they had domesticated, and thus neglected the study of the diseases to which they were liable. But perhaps the principal reason why epizootic affections are not alluded to arose from their rarity, the natural salubrity of the climate of Greece, and the isolated situation of its various islands, which afforded but little opportunity for the origin or diffusion of general affections. Hippocrates, who appears to have collected all the medical knowledge existing before his time, and who often examined dead animals, scarcely notices the diseases peculiar to them. In one passage, he observes that goats and sheep are very liable to epilepsy {hlh. de Mo/bo Sacro), probably due to hydatids on the brain; in another it is remarked that cattle are much disposed to luxations of the hip {Lib. de Articulis); and most remarkable of all, he refers to oxen, sheep, and swine as infested by hydatids, when endeavouring to prove that dropsy in man often depends on
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the presence of these entozoa. ' Hydropem etiam ex phymatis oriri mihi argumento sunt boves, oves, et sues; in his enim fere quadrupedibus pulmonis phymataoriuntur, quae aquairi continent : sectione namqne factä citissime cognoveris cum aqua effluet.5 (De internis Affect, par. v.) He speaks of having been informed by those who understood horses, that these animals were liable to all the infirmities with which mankind is afflicted.
(a.m. 5001.) 'There was a great mortality of kine in Ireland in Breasal's reign.'1 From this circumstance the king received the cognomen of Bodhiobhadh (cow destruction), or Breasal Bodivo. ' In his (Breasal's) time there was such a mor-reen (murrain) of cows in the land, as there were no more then left alive but one bull and one heifer in the whole kingdom, which bull and heifer lived in a place called Gleam-Samasge.'2 The tradition of this event is still preserved in Glensawisk, or the Glen of the Heifer, in the parish of Lower Bodoney, County Tyrone. This is the first cattle epizoöty on record in Ireland.
b.c. 1183. An epidemy and epizoöty broke out, according to Homer (b.c. 907), during the siege of Troy. At that time, 'whence to Greece unnumbered ills arose,' Chryses, high-priest of Apollo, was dismissed by Atrides, with threats, when he went to the Grecian camp to ransom his daughter from the hands of her captors. The old man in his anger prays to Apol-
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'. . . . his pray'r Apollo heard : Along Olympus' heights he pass'd, his heart Burning with wrath; behind his shoulder hung His bow, and ample quiver; at his back Rattled the fateful arrows as he moved : Like the night-cloud he pass'd; and from afar He bent against the ships, and sped the bolt ; And fierce and deadly twang'd the silver bow. First on the mules and dogs, on man the last. Was pour'd the arrowy storm ; and through the camp, Constant and num'rous, blazed the fun'ral fires. Nine days the heav'nly archer on the troops Hurl'd his dread shafts.'3
1 Annals of the Four Masters.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;2 Annals of Clonmacnoise.
3 Homer''s Iliad, Book i., Earl Derby's Translation.
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Homer does not forget to indicate the cause or the probably contagious character of the pestilence, by describing the precautions taken in the Greek camp to cleanse and purify, and to throw all filth and obnoxious matter into the sea.
B.c. 1100. There were twenty-five years' drought in Spain, so that there was neither food for man nor pasture for cattle. Springs dried up, rivers failed or became stagnant, and only a few olive trees on the banks of the Ebro and Guadalquiver remained to testify to the little vitality yet left in the vegetable kingdom. The land was full of ( dreadful mortalities, plagues, and miseries of every description/
The occurrence of droughts almost invariably, as we will have occasion to notice, forebodes disease to man and beast, and they have ever been looked upon with dread.
1 While travelling through the country, I received several vivid descriptions of the effects of a late great drought, and the account of this may throw some light on the cases where vast numbers of animals have been embedded together. The period included between the years 1827 and 1830 is called the quot;Gran seco,quot; or the great drought. During this time so little rain fell that the vegetation, even to the thistles, failed; the brooks were dried up, and the whole country assumed the appearance of a dusty high-road. This was especially the case in the northern part of the province of Buenos Ayres and the southern part of St Fe. Very great numbers of birds, wild animals, cattle, and horses perished from the want of food and water. A man told me that the deer used to come into his courtyard to the well which he had been obliged to dig to supply his own family with water, and that the partridges had hardly strength to fly away when pursued. The lowest estimation of the loss of cattle in the province of Buenos Ayres alone was taken at one million head. A proprietor at San Pedro had previously to this 20,000 cattle; at the end not one remained.31
b.c. 753. Plutarch2 informs us that soon after the murder of Tatius a great pestilence broke out at Rome, which was in-
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stantaneously fatal to animals and men. It did great evil^ and during; its fury blood is said to have been rained. The red colour of the rain was due, no doubt, to the presence of a vegetable organism in the atmosphere, owing to some favourable conditions for its development. Zonaras says that the earth and cattle were barren: 'sterilitas agrorum et pecudum.' The crops failed, and the beautiful and ferti'e country of Campania, before greatly depressed by the murder of Tatius, was now sadly troubled by famine, pestilence, and the sword.
From the earliest ages animal plagues recur in the history of Rome, a citv which was afterwards to become so famous for terrible calamities that Livy styled it ' urbs assiduis exhausta funeribus.' Tacitus, in his description of Rome, intimates the almost regular occurrence of ' tempus grave aut annus pcstilentiae.' Its situation, no doubt, greatly favoured these attacks. Built on the low banks of the Tiber, surrounded bv malarious tracts of country, and subject to inundations and commotions of the elements, it furnished for centuries the most fearful examples of epidemic and epizootic visitations. To the south lay the Pontine marshes, a tract of land extending from Nettuno to Terracina, about 45 miles long and from 4 to 11 broad, which at no distant period before had been covered bv the sea. In the early times of the Roman Republic, according to Pliny, 33 cities existed there; but these, either by wars or increasing miasma, very soon disappeared. What are termed the marshes are formed by great quantities of water, received from innumerable streams, which, rising in the neighbouring mountains, run into the plain, where, for want of a sufficient declivity towards the sea, their course is very slow, until they become stagnant, and at length lose themselves in the sand. They now contain immense pastures, where horses, cattle, and herds of buffaloes graze as in the early ages ofthat once great empire. The air, particularly in some seasons of the year, is even at present very unwholesome. The inhabitants are pale and sallow, suffer much from fever, and the lower animals are subject to various maladies peculiar to Such situations.
In the south part of Tuscany, and not far from the Eternal City, lies the Maremma, another marshy region, which, by reason
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of its being pervaded bv unhealthy exhalations from a soil abounding in sulphur and alum, cannot be inhabited in summer without danger, for then the population is driven away by fever, and the mal'aria frequently sweeps down the streets of Rome.
The great Ostiensian marshes, similar to the Pontine, added their insalubrious emanations to those from the other sources; so that, during unfavourable seasons, Rome and its environs generally suffered severely. Even the most fertile and healthy districts, on which the Romans depended for grain and cattle, were sometimes exposed to these influences; and Campania, still one of the most beautiful and productive parts of Italy, once the resort of the most distinguished patricians, and where, as Goethe says, ' it is worth while to till the ground/ did not escape those devastations for which the country in general was so noted. Eusebius, the Father of Ecclesiastical History, when describing a plague which reigned in the Roman Empire in a.D. 314, mentions the state of the atmosphere. ' The air was so noxious and everywhere so deranged with corrupt vapours, fumes from the earth so putrid, winds from the sea, exhalations from marshes and rivers, so injurious, that a certain poisonous liquor, as it were from putrid carcases, was brought by the elements, and covered the subjacent seats or benches, walls, and sides of houses, and the dew appeared like the sanies of dead bodies.'1 Much was also due, no doubt, to the unsettled state of the empire. Constant wars and revolutions retarded agricultural operations, desolation often reigned, and severe famine was but too frequently a consequence. Hygiene was neglected, even the rivers and fields were filled with putrefying matter; so that men and beasts, birds and fishes, perished together, vulgato per omnegenus anima-lium moi-lo. At the present day, notwithstanding attempts at drainage around Rome, the plain of Latium and the country near it are uninhabited deserts, miasmatic to a deadly degree.
The epizootic maladies of the domestic animals, but especially of the ox, a creature particularly susceptible of disease, would be very serious with such a people as the Romans, who depended so much upon the services to be obtained from them. A destruction
1 Susebiiis. Chronicon. Paris, 1628.
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of cattle was with them a destruction of the earth's produce, for the soil could not be tilled, and from this would arise a famine. c Sine quibus (sc. Bolus) nee terra excoli nee humanum genus sustentari ullatenus poterunt/ says Vegetius. Livy mentions that neglect of culture and scarcity of corn were the usual effects of epidemical sickness : Defuncla civitate plurimorum morlis per-paucis fuiieriius pestilentem annum inopia frugum neglecto cultu agrorum, ut pier unique ßt, excepit. This neglect of agriculture might, on many occasions, be the effect of disease among the cattle, as it was here of sickness among men; in which case it would be the cause of an epidemic, as it is here said to have been the effect of it.
B.c. 545-6. A great famine and pestilence at Rome and in the plain of Latium. Vast numbers of cattle died from a murrain, and to such extremities were the inhabitants reduced that the Volsci were compelled to petition the Romans for assistance in re-peopling their cities.1
b.c. 488. A plague of animals and of men. f A certain pestilential disease affected all creatures, and made great havoc amongst cattle. The mortality among mankind, however, was not great, for they escaped the dangers arising from this disease/-2
B.c. 476. During this year, and for some years subsequent to this period, Spain was visited by various pestilences.3
B.c. 47a. According to Mariana4 a plague reigned throughout nearly the whole world. It began in Egypt, and at length reached Spain, the disease generally commencing among the cattle. A peculiar feature in its progress was that it nearly always appeared in the country districts before it reached the towns.
B.c. 463. During a year of great heat and drought, the Latins and Hernici were devastating the country around Rome. The evil consequences arising from the fatigues of war were greatly increased by crowds of country people, who, with their
1nbsp; Dionysius Halicarnassus, Functius, and Muratori.
2nbsp; Dionysius Halicarnassus. Antiq. Rom. vii. 68.
3nbsp; Florian de Camfo. Vol. i. lib. ii. chap. 45.
4nbsp; Juan de Mariana. Historia General de Espaiia.
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herds and flocks^ fled for safety from the plundering tribes within the walls of the imperial capital. As a result of the over-crowding and the other misfortunes, disease appeared about the calends of September, and caused great mortality until the end of November. Horses and cattle were first attacked, then man. Diony-sius writes : 'When first attacked by this disease, the horses and the oxen fell victims. After them goats and sheep succumbed, so that it was necessary to destroy all four-footed beasts. Then it (the pestilence) attacked herdsmen and farmers, and passing over the whole country, at length fell upon the city.'1
(a.m. 5160.) To show the mildness of the season in Ireland, we are told that in the reign of Conaire there was abundance of nuts. fThe cattle were without keepers in Ireland in his reign, on account of the greatness of the peace and concord. The wind did not take a hair offquot; the cattle from the middle of autumn to the middle of spring. Little but the trees bent from the greatness of their fruit during his time/2
b.c. 453. According to Livy and Dionysius, the pestilence loimikie (probably anthrax) destroyed nearly one-half the inhabitants of Rome as well as their cattle. The disease spread to the ^Equi, Sabines, and Volsci, and inflicted great loss on them, killing their herds and flocks, and causing such havoc that the land was left uncultivated, and famine thereby induced. Another plague succeeded this, which lasted from b.c. 443 to 438.3
b.c. 431. At Rome a disease appeared among animals in this year, which extended to mankind. Livy writes concerning it: ' Great suffering prevailed that year in consequence of drought. Not only were the heavens without water, but the earth, being deprived of its natural moisture, hardly supplied the perennial rivers. Everywhere the cattle died from thirst around dry fountains and streams. The murrain having ceased, common contagious diseases seized the people; those residing in the country were first affected, after which the city was ravaged. Nor were their bodies alone, affected by the pestilence, for their minds were also assailed by manifold religious ceremonies, most of them of foreign origin/4
1 Op. cit. ix. 67.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;3 Annals of the Four Masters.
3 Livy. Lib. iii. 32. Dionys. Lib. x. 53.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;4 Livy. Lib. iv. 25, 30.
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B.c. 430. The plague of Athens, so lucidly described b} ThucydideSj occurred during the second year of the Peloponnesian war. Thucydides and Lucretius mention that birds were rare, dogs died, and that rapacious animals would not devour the bodies of the dead. ' For the same reason there camca disease to cattle, also sickness to bleating flocks. And although many unburied bodies lay on the ground, yet the birds and beasts of prey either kept at a distance to escape the stench, or when they had eaten of them they began to grow weak as death approached. Neither did any birds rashly appear in these lands, nor did the wild beasts leave their haunts in the woods at night, for they began to languish from the pestilence and die. But, foremost of all, the faithful dog was attacked, tainting the air in the highways with his disease, while the ruthless poison drove the sickening spirit from every limb/ 1
Thucydides gives us the supposed cause. 'As they (the Athenians) had no houses, but dwelt in booths all the summer season, and in which there was scarcely room to breathe, the pestilence destroyed with the greatest confusion; so that they lay together in heaps, the dying upon the dead, and the dead upon the dying. They were tumbling one over the other in the public streets, or lay expiring round every fountain, whither they had crept to assuage the intolerable thirst which was consuming them. The temples of which they had taken possession were
full of the dead bodies of those who had expired there.....For
as this distemper was in general virulent beyond expression, and its every part more grievous than had yet fallen to the lot of human nature, so in one particular feature it appeared to be none of the natural infirmities of man, since the birds avid beasts that prey on human flesh either never approached the dead bodies, of which many lay uninterred, or certainly perished if they ever tasted it. One proof of this is the total disappearance at that time of such birds, for not one was to be seen either in any other place or near the carcases. But the dogs, because of their constant familiarity with man, afforded a more notorious proof of this event.'2
1 Lucretius. Lib. vi. 1123, itf.Mj'.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; -2 TlmcyJUcs. Bcllo Pclop. ii. 49.
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A similar pestilence raged in Persia, Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia.
b.c. 399. A great epizooty at Rome is described by Livy. 'The year was remarkable for its stormy and frosty winter; so severe was it that the Tiber was unnavio-able. Either in con-sequence of the unseasonableness of the weather—a sudden change having taken place, or from some other cause, a trying, and to all animals a pestilential, summer, succeeded the terrible winter. Neither the cause nor the termination of this incurable mortality could be divined.....In the former year an unbearable and almost miraculous winter set in ; 111 the following year pestilence raged through town and country, as though the angry gods were venting their displeasure.'1
It is somewhat strange that Aristotle, who lived about this period, did not give any detfäled description of epizootic diseases in his History of Animals. He mentions scabies, canine madness, and arthritis—a disease endemic and enzootic in Greece, and the only one, according to this writer, to which the unbroken droves of horses wandering over the plains were liable. Some of the maladies of animals are enumerated by him, such as tetanus, the iliac passion, and phthisis of cattle, but the great animal plagues are forgotten, if we except the one termed malh which, he says, was peculiar to the ass species. This word was used by the Greeks to signify the most serious diseases of animals, in something the same manner as the word loimos was employed to distinguish the pestilential maladies of man.
The maus manifested itself principally by a discharge of thick mucosities from the nostrils, and it was believed the seat of the disease was usually in the head. ' If the malady reached the chest/ says Aristotle, * they died, but if it was confined to the head it could be cured.' The etymology of the word signified nothing more than a glanderous discharge, and the Romans translated or rendered it by the term proßuvium atticum, a disease, or rather a symptom, according to them, nearly always fatal in animals, but which characterized more particularly what we now tern;
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1 Op. cit. v. 13—15.
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Aristotle excluded fishes from the list of animals subject to pestilential diseases. ' Morbus pestilens nullus insidere piscibus videtur, qualis plerumque hominibus et quadrupedibus, equis, et bubus, et reliquis generis nonnullis accidit turn feris turn urbanis.' (Histor. Animal. lib. viii. chap. 19.)
B.c. 332^ 396, 291, 278. The Tarentian war was succeeded by a most desolating pestilence, invading both cities and suburbs, and carrying off chiefly women and cattle. In 378 it was known as the Abortus epidemicus, and was particularly fatal to pregnant females and cows at Rome. f A grievous pestilence invaded the city and its environs, which attacked all, but especially the women. The foetus was killed in the womb, and discharged from it. Miscarriages exposed mothers to great danger; so much so, that it was feared that a future population and breed of animals would be wanting.''
B.c. 218. In Spain there was a fatal epizoöty among dogs and birds.2
B.c. 216. Polybius mentions that the horses of Hannibal's army were attacked by a disease while they were in the marshes of Etruria, and through which they lost their hoofs. ' Equorum etiam multis, ob longum per paludes iter, ungulae exciderunt.'3
b.c. 212. At the siege of Syracuse, a putrid disease broke out among the Carthaginians and Romans who were under the command of Marcellus. It was supposed to have arisen from over-crowding, a badly cultivated and undrained country, scarcity and bad quality of provisions, and the inundations from a stagnant lake which was always suspected of being the cause of maladies. After speaking of the excessive heat of the autumn, and the miasma arising from the marshes, Silius Italiens goes on to sav,—' First the dogs felt the eiFects of the plague ; next, the pestilential vapours in their rapid course attacked the b rds, then laid low the wild beasts in the woods. Still surely onwards crept the infernal pest, and finally devastated the camp by destroying the troops. The tongue became dry, and a cold sweat crept over the trembling body; the drooping jaws denied the
1 P. Orosii. Histor. Lib. iv. p. 2.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;2 Mariana. Op. cit.
3 Universal History.
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proffered food, a hacking cough wore out their lungs, and the hot breath came out from the parched mouth.''
B.c. 203. In the neighbourhood of Capua, a mighty swarm of locusts filled the country, and caused general destruction everywhere.2
B.c. 200. Cato the Elder, who lived about this time, in his valuable and admired treatise on husbandry makes allusion to the epizootic and other diseases of the lower animals. While giving superstition its full share of attention, he wisely has an earnest desire'to be more practical. ' If there be reason to fear,' says he, ' the presence of an epizootic disease, it is most essential to give to the cattle a mixture of salt, laurel leaves, onions, cloves of garlic/ incense, powdered rue, and burning charcoal, made up with a little wine.' So much for his preventive treatment. H's remedial measures were simpler. ' If an animal becomes affected with the disease, make it swallow an egg whole, and the next day give a clove of garlic beaten up in wine.' To restore the appetite of oxen which are sick, he recommends sprinkling their forage with oil dregs, and this fluid might also be given in a little water every four or five days as a restorative and fortifiant. 'By this means,' he adds, 'cattle will be insured against disease and kept in a thriving state.'4
b.c. 175-6. Rome was again the scene of a dreadful pestilence. This was preceded by a most inclement season, and while the malady lasted swarms of locusts ravaged Apulia and cleared offquot; the vegetation before them. Sicinius the prtetor was sent with an army to drive them away. Livy says that the disease began amongst the cattle, and soon after attacked mankind. Those who lived for seven days did so with great difficulty, and were liable to be seized with a quartan fever. The lower classes were the principal sufferers, and their dead bodies lay about the roads, untouched by dogs or vultures, and were allowed to rot there. No vultures were seen in this, nor yet in the former year.5
1nbsp; Silius Italicus. Punic War, chap. xiv. v. 580—626.
2nbsp; Livy. Lib. x;;x. 2.
3nbsp; Onions and garlic formed the principal ingredients in a pretended specific for cattle plague in A.D. 1865.
4nbsp; Rei Rustica Scriptores Veteres. Leipsic, 1735. 5 Lhy. Lib. xli. 18—21.
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B.c. 134. The army of Scipio iBmiliaiius, the Numantine, was operating in Palestine and the adjacent countries. Water proved to be so scarce that wells had to be made, but the liquid obtained from them gave rise to a malignant epizooty among the horses and beasts of burden. Great loss was sustained ; and the disease continuing to spread, the army had to be moved to the healthier plains of Numantia, in order to get rid of the pestilence.
u.c. 126. An eruption of Mount Etna. The following year (127) pestilence in Africa, which was attributed to shoals of dead locusts. These creatures having been brought over by a strong east wind, and having devoured all vegetation, even to the bark of the trees, were driven by a southerly gale into the Mediterranean and drowned, after which they were again washed on shore during hot weather, and putrefied there. The pestilence occasioned by the decomposition of their bodies destroyed more than a million of people, and the domestic animals also suffered. The odour was intolerable.
Thomson has well said that plagues are (the offspring of inclement skies, and of legions of putrefying locusts.' The visits of these creatures to eastern countries have frequently induced famine, pestilence, and death, and history records these effects of their incursions, alas ! too often.
b.c. 43. Eruptions of Etna; an excessively hot summer; dark, gloomy weather; heavy rains; extensive inundations of the Po, the Ciuca, Segrc, and the Isonzo, were the cause of many diseases, but especially those of a carbuncular nature affecting oxen, horses, dogs, and even many other creatures. The deer tribe in the forests were not exempt from the attacks.
This period is remarkable for the poetical description of some of these epizootic diseases written by the illustrious Roman poet Virgil, he who sang of ' shepherds, fields, and heroes' deeds.'
If he had made veterinary science a special study, he could not have sung more truthfully or learnedly for the age in which he lived. The frequent visitations of, and sad havoc wrought by, epizootic diseases seems to have struck him as an alarming fact.
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' Not whirlwinds from the sea so frequent rush, Big with the storm, as pests 'mid cattle rage. Nor individuals sole disorders seize. But, suddenly, whole flocks, with every hope. At once, and, from the youngest, all the race.'
And when the pestilence had broken out, and
' Tisiphone, all pale, before her drives Disease and fear, and each succeeding day Tow'rs more and more with her detested brow—'
who so careful to watch her progress and note her manifestations as the Mantuan bard ? In the third book of his Georgics he gives an account of a dire disease which destroyed nearly all the living creatures on land or in the water in the vicinity of the Julian Alps. Some authorities imagine that he has attempted to describe the different diseases of each species : the m'a-lignant exanthematous affections or the ardent pestilential fever accompanied by vertigo of the horse, the pleuro-pneumonia of the cow, the inflammatory fever of the sheep, the malignant sore-throat of the pig, and the rabies of the dog; but in all probability it is an account of one of those dreadful calamities that smote all, from man downwards, perhaps a little exaggerated for poetical effect, though of this we must not judge too harshly. In his other descriptions of kindred subjects in the same poem we find great accuracy, and a fidelity which will hold good even now, and for all time; therefore we must conclude that an adherence to truth was his great object, and that the real value of his precepts was never sacrificed to his poetical genius, but only polished and embellished by the mind of a great master.
The apparent causes of the disease were severe autumnal heat, impure water, and rank pasturage.
* From tainted air arose A dreadful storm, inflamed by autumn's heat, And gave to death all cattle, tame or wild, Corrupting lakes, poisoning the grassy food.'
Death was fearfully sudden, for he says,
' Oft at the altar as the victim stood, Amidst the sacred honours of the gods,
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While the white fillet cover'd that of wool,
As paused the lingering priest, it fell and died :
Or had the flamen timely struck the blow.
On altars placed, fibres refuse their blaze,
And question'd prophets can no answer give:
And scarce the steel employ'd is tinged with blood, •
That barely stains the surface of the soil.'
His pictures of the various animals passing through the different stages of the disease are most vivid and striking, and betray much feeling for the sufferings they endure.
' Hence amidst springing grass young cattle die. And yield their gentle lives at loaded stalls ; Hence madden fawning dogs, and the sick swine With suffocation shake, and panting cough.'
The horse obtains the largest share of notice.
' He falls—his fire all lost—his grass forgot— The victor horse ; from fountains turns away. And quick and oft beats with his feet the ground : Fallen arc his ears—uncertain is his heat. And clammy chills proclaim approaching death; Arid and hard, his skin resists the touch. These earliest signs announce the fatal pest ; But if in progress the disease grows fierce, Then arc the eyes inflamed, and deep the breath Is drawn, sometimes with heavy groans ; the flanks Distend with lengthen'd sobs ; the nostrils run Black blood, and the rough tongue clings To the obstructed jaws. Through the inserted horn Lenasan streams infused once gave relief. And this for the dying seem'd the only hope. But this inflamed the pest, when strong in rage They burn'd, and now themselves, 'mid pangs of deatli (May the gods guard the pious, and thus curse our foe.5 !) Tore their own mangled limbs with naked teeth.'
Next, the toiling, ftrailing-footed ox' has his history told.
' Lo ! as the bull under the plough-share smokes. He falls, and vomits mingled foam and gore, And makes his final groan. The ploughman sad Disjoins the ox that mourns his brother's fate,
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And leaves the rooted plough, the work half done. The shades of deep'ning groves, the softest meads Move him not now, nor stream through rocky bed That pure as amber freshens all the plain. His flanks are all relax'd, and his dull eye A stupor covers, and to earth his neck Down rushes with the heavy weight it bore. What profit then their service and their toil ? Yet not the sparkling flow of Massic wine. Nor feasts replenish'd, ever injured them; They feed on leaves, and eat the simplest herbs. Their cup the liquid founts and rapid streams ; They have no cares to break their wholesome sleep.'
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So deadly had been the plague among cattle that
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' No other time, they say, those regions knew When cows were sought for Juno's sacred rites. And unmatch'd bulls drew to her shrine the car. Therefore men toiling break the earth with rakes. And with their very nails prepare the crops. And over lofty hills, with outstretch'd necks, Drag on the creaking cart.'
The species of the victims increase.
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' The felon wolf No longer lays his plots around the fold. Or takes his nightly walk; a sterner care Subdues him. Timid deer and flying stags Now amongst dogs and horses range at large ; Whilst of the sea immense, all swimming things On the shore's verge, like shipwreck'd bodies, float, Wash'd by the wave. Phocaa to rivers fly. And Seek a refuge never known before. In vain defended by his winding den. The viper dies, and with his scales erect. The frighten'd hydra; while the birds themselves Insufferable find the tainted gale, And falling, leave in lofty air their lives.'
All remedies seem to have been in vain, for we are told that
' No change of food affords relief. And art implored destroys j'
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signifying, probably, that the medicines employed tended onlv to aggravate the disease. The shepherd could do nothing but,
' Sitting still, pray heav'n for better luck,'
or take advice, and
' With speedy knife the fault coerce, ere yet The dire disease creeps through the careless flock'
Human skill was foiled.
' The masters yield, Philyrian Chiron, and Melampus sage.'
The mortality among the domesticated animals increases fearfully,
' Till men dig deep and bury them in earth. The skins are useless, nor the tainted flesh Can water cleanse, nor raging fire subdue ; Nor is it possible to sheer the fleece, So damaged with disease and filthiness ; Nor can the weaver touch the putrid web. But should a man attempt the odious garb. With burning pimples and disgusting sweat His limbs are seized, and in no lengthen'd time. The fire accursed consumes his poison'd frame.''
a.D. io—14. After the destruction of the Milesian nobility by the Attacotti, the first great famine which we read of in Christian times occurred in Ireland in the reign of Cairbrc the ' Cat-headed/ the last king of the Aithcach-Tuatha. ' The earth did not yield its fruits to the Attacotti after the great massacre which they had made of the nobility of Ireland, so that the corn, fruits, and produce of Ireland were barren; „for there used to be but one grain upon the stalk, one acorn upon the oak, and one nut upon the hazel. Fruitless were her arbours, milkless her
1 Virgil. Georgics, lib. iii. v. 495, et seq. Some commentators are of opinion that Virgil's description of this dreadful epizootic anthrax fever (which much resembles the South American dcrrengadera, as described by Don Ramoro Paez for the year 183S) has been written in imitation of Thucydides and Lucretius. Others, again, think that the principal facts have been derived from personal observation in the year 43 B.c., a dreadful period in history, and described in his first Georgic. —ÄvHeynes' 'Notes.'
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cattle, so that a general famine prevailed over Ireland/1 during the five years that Cairbre was in the sovereignty.
a.d. 67. A comet was seen this year, after which followed a destructive tempest in Campania. Earthquakes took place at Hieropolis and Laodicea. Six hundred sheep were killed in Italy by gases emitted during an earthquake.2
' The desire shown by ancient writers to preserve the records of eclipses which preceded or followed any important event is of the greatest value, as we can thus easily fix the date of such events; for the chronology of eclipses is founded on immutable causes, and any fact stated to have occurred synchronously with phenomena of the kind, can at once, by that very circumstance, find its determined place in chronology.'3 By eclipses we can also test the veracity of a historian, and frequently discover the system of his chronology. An idea prevailed very extensively, and to a certain degree obtains credence still among writers upon philosophy as well as medicine, that eclipses and cometary influences affect the organized world, and are one of the causes of blights and pestilences; and it was probably from being imbued with such impressions, that the early annalists noted eclipses of the sun and moon so carefully. But the object of introducing their occurrence into a modern history of these pestilences is more with a view to fix a clue to the date and authenticity of these, than to favour such theories.4
a.d. 69. During the reign of the Emperor Nero it rained so much of the so-called blood in Albania, that rivers ran blood. An epizoöty broke out among the domestic animals, and an epidemy in man.6 The accounts of some Roman authors would lead to the inference that the symptoms of the malady corresponded with those of the epizootic pleuro-pneumonia of our own times.
Columella, who lived at this period, and whose influence on the progress of Veterinary Science in that early age was very
1nbsp; nbsp;(yCleary. Book of Conquests.
2nbsp; Seneca. Also Orosius, vii. ; and Magd. Eccles. Hist. ii. 53.
3nbsp; L'Art de Verifier les Dates, amp;c. Paris, 1783, vol. i.
4nbsp; The Census of Ireland.
5nbsp; nbsp;Tacitus. Annals, xvi. Suetonius. Vita Nero, 39.
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History of Animal Plagues.
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great, speaks of many of the diseases of the lower animals j and after mentioning the symptoms of this attack, says that the death of the cattle might be averted if a seton was put in the ear, by means of a fibre from the hellebore root, and giving them for many days a pint of leek juice, mixed with a like quantity of olive oil and a pint of wine. The pest was deadly —a kind of phthisis: Est etiam ilia gravis pernicies cum pulmo exulceratur, inde tussis et macies et ad ultimutn phthisis invadit. The same writer also mentions a kind of pest which affected mares, but the symptoms described do not permit us to recognize it. The animals became suddenly emaciated, and died in a short time. In the commencement of the malady, it was useful to inject fish-brine every day into the nostrils, in order, as he says, to purge the pituitary membrane, and cure the patients. He likewise describes an epizootic affection that showed itself in lambs and young goats, and which Paulet says bears some resemblance to a peculiar ovine disease now known, which localizes itself in the skin of the face, and is analogous to ring-worm. The shepherds of those days called it mentigo or ostigo, and it consisted in ulcers of a bad character about the lips and inside the mouth. Its ordinary cause was eating herbage yet covered with dew. It was fatal to the unweaned animals :—lahes morti-fera lactantilus. The remedy was to rub the affected parts with a decoction of equal parts of hyssop and salt; to wash them with vinegar, and then to dress them with an ointment composed of liquid pitch and lard. In all likelihood it was an aphthous affection.
The flocks of sheep and goats were very subject to general diseases. Such was the goat plague—caprarum pestilentla, a most formidable and deadly malady, which swept off whole flocks in a very brief space. ' These animals, usually so lively and hardy, do not lose condition or show languor, like other animals when attacked, but they drop all at once, as if struck by lightning, and quickly perish. From the moment one is seen to be affected, the whole flock should be bled, the sickly ones should be killed, and those yet in health have th? nice of reed-roots and hawthorn to drink in rain-water.'
The pneumonia of sheep is indicated; the treatment was to
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be the same as that for pigs—ovem pulmonariam ut mem curare convenit, amp;c.
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There was another disease, to which the inhabitants of the
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Campagna gave the name of Coriago. It consisted in so close an adherence of the skin to the ribs, that it was impossible to detach it. Columella attributed it to the heavy rains to which the oxen were exposed during their labour. His remedy was to rub them frequently with wine in the sunshine.
Much attention is given to the ignis sacer of sheep. He says, fEst etiam insanabilis ignis sacer, quern pusulam vocant pas-tores.' ' If it is not arrested/ he adds, 'when the first animal is attacked, it soon affects the whole flock. There is no remedy for it. The disease is irritated by the least touch, and nothing but the milk of goats can help to allay its intensity.' Dolus Mende-sius, a veterinarian of Egyptian origin, is cited by him as one who was able to give the method of recognizing and arresting the disease. This method consisted in often examinins the backs of. the sheep, and if the slightest redness was perceptible, they were to be promptly killed, and buried in their skins. Was this the ovine small-pox ? Some authors have thought it was. There are some circumstances in favour of this opinion, which we will notice at a later period.
In the ninth chapter of the sixth book ' Columella goes on to
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say,' When an ox has the fever,'—which may have been that peculiar type of Cattle Plague of which we have had such painful experience,—' he must not be allowed to eat for the space of a
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day; after which, and before he has eaten anything, a little
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blood must be abstracted from under the tail, then he must be made to swallow thirty cabbage leaves baked in oil. This food is to be given for five davs, and while fasting, and he is to
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have, besides, the tops of the lentisk, the olive tree, or any other species of tender-leaved plants, or branches of the vine, and cold water is to be allowed him to drink three times a-day.' ' This treatment,' he insists, ' ought to be followed out in the cowhouse, and the animal should not be allowed in the open air until cured.' 'The fever is present,' he adds, 'when tears are
1 Scriptores Rei Rustica. Goner, 1787.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;jl
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trickling clown the face, when the head is carried low and heavily, and the eyes are closed; when the saliva flows from the mouth; when the respiration is shorter than in health, and seemingly embarrassed, or sometimes accompanied by groaning.' In chapter xiv. we have a description of the epizoöty. ' It is a grave disease, consisting in ulceration of the lungs. It produces cough, loss of flesh, and consumption. Another disease is noticed, in which sometimes there arises a swelling of the palate, which causes the animal to refuse food, to sigh, suspiriosh lalorantes, and to seem uncertain on which side he should fall. The palate must be torn with the iron to make it bleed, and he must be given softened vetches.' Change of air he lays much stress on, after recommending setons in the ears.—SuspiriosS laborantihm auri-culce ferro resciridendce, mulandceqve regiones ; quod in omnibus morlis ac pestihus fieri dehere censemus.
The most sensible advice he gives, with regard to the treatment of animals, is to separate the healthy from the unhealthy —Segregandi ä sanis morhidi; and he sarcastically makes mention of Dolus Mendesius, a contemporary veterinarian, as a man who recommended that the first sheep that was attacked by theigraiwacer,gangrenous erysipelas (?),should be killed and buried at the entrance of the sheep-fold, as if he thought it a dangerous custom in those days ; for this disease was often epizootic, and it is believed now to be very contagious when so.
A.D. 76. ' God took vengeance on the Aitheach-Tuatha (Attacotti) for their evil deed (the slaughter by King Fiacha of the white cattle in a.D. 56) during the time that Elim was in the sovereignty, namely, Ireland was without corn, without milk, without fruit, without fish, and without every other great advantage.'1
A.D. 92. A loimic plague is described by the Jewish philosopher Philo, who believed it to have been caused by hot dust. ' The clouds of dust suddenly falling on men and cattle, produced over the whole skin a severe and intractable ulceration. The body immediately became tumid with efflorescences, or
1 Annals of the Four Masters.
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purulent phlycteneej which appeared like blisters excited by a secret fire beneath.'
a.D. 190. 'About this time a great pestilence raged over all Italy, and became most violent in Rome by reason of the great concourse of people assembled from all quarters of the world. Wherefore a great loss of life took place amongst oxen and men, the excited cattle perishing amongst the people.51 The sweet srnell of the laurel-tree was supposed to counteract the contagion. The people of Rome were advised by their physicians to fill their noses and ears with odorous substances, and to use perfumes, so as to nullify human effluvia and the contagious atmosphere. Famine and pestilence raged for three years.
a.d. 216. Widespread pestilence in Italy, affecting man and beast.2
a.d. 238. In Ceylon f a great famine and plague occurred during this reign, attributed to the malignity of the red-eyed demon. It was to appease this demon that a devil-dance was instituted, which is kept up to this day.5 3 Forbes thinks this was small-pox, a disease which afterwards ravaged that island on many occasions.
a.d. 260. When Saphor, King of Persia, was besieging Nisibus, his elephants and beasts of burden were so suddenly and furiously attacked by swarms of gnats, as to kill or disable them, thus causing the siege to be raised, and subsequently lead-inquot;- to the discomfiture of that monarch's army.'4
onbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; -
A.D. 314. In the reign of Constantine the Great, the large island of Cyprus was 36 years without rain. So great a famine ensued that all its animal inhabitants forsook it and fled.6
a.d. 376. In this long interval, epidemics of various kinds had reigned throughout the world, and caused incalculable mortality ; but though some of these, from their nature, may have extended themselves to the lower animals, and thus rendered
1 Herodian. Hist., book i.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 3 Hdvdms. Cavriol. Hist. Brix.
3nbsp; Forbes. Eleven Years in Ceylon. Appendix, p. 286.
4nbsp; nbsp;Theodorite. Hist. Eccles. book ii., chap. 30.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 5 Petavius.
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their infliction doubly severe, there is no mention of their having done so. In these obscure ages, and in nearly every subsequent one, as we will often have occasion to observe, when plagues have slain myriads of human beings, the greater evil has swallowed up the lesser, or rather veiled it, and no record is made of epizootic diseases, though we may strongly suspect that they have often accompanied, if they have not preceded and perhaps caused, directly or indirectly, those widespread maladies in mankind.
In this year, after the sanguinary irruption of the Huns ,1'nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;under Attila, the expulsion of the Goths from Hungary, and the
fierce internecine wars of the whole Germanic population, there was an extraordinary famine and a deadly epidemic. The preceding winter had been very cold, the summer very dry, and shocks of earthquake had been frequent. ,nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; A most severe and memorable epizoöty began in the east of
Europe and spread westward. It was exceedingly fatal, and caused great loss, the cattle being no sooner attacked than they died. Curative measures proved useless, and no healthy animal was safe unless it was branded on the forehead with a red-hot iron in the form of a cross. So says, at any rate, the credulous and marvel-loving Cardinal Baronius,1 who of course adds that this miracle converted crowds of people to Christianity.
Paulet and Dupuy think there may have really been some virtue in this application of the actual cautery, but only that of a physical kind. As might be expected, any benefit supposed to be conferred on the animals by means of this crucial firing, when suggested by the miracle-working priests, would be readily placed to the credit of the Church. The shape of the iron was all-important, and Camper fancied that the custom of painting white crosses on the stable-doors in Holland was the remains of this superstition.
As is well known, Europe was in a sadly disturbed state at this time from the invasions of the so-called barbarians, while the consternation and fear their advance and depredations occasioned was rendered more embarrassing by this Cattle Plague. St Ambrose, who lived at this period, plaintively writes: f Hunni in
1 Baronius. Annales Ecclesiasticoe, vol. iv.
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History of Animal Plagues.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 29
Alanos, Alani ip Gothos, Gothi in Taifalos et Sarmatos insur-
rexerunt. Nos quoque in Illyrico—exu!es patrisej Gothorum
exilia fecerunt et nondum est finis. Quae omniuni esset fames
lues pariter hominum caeterique pecoris, ut etiam nos qni bellum
non pertulimus, debeilatis tamen pares fecerit pestilentia.''
From the course pursued by the epizoöty and its deadiiness,
we have every reason to believe that it was the veritable 'Cattle
Plague/ so called, of our own days. In a curious poem, entitled
' De Mortibus Bourn/ written by Sanctus Severus,2 one of the
earliest Christian poets, and a native of Aquitania, who lived in
the 4th century, its progress and fatality are particularly dwelt
upon, and for the first time we have mention made of Hungary
as the birth-place of plagues—a country which for centuries afterwards was to bear this unenviable reputation. The poem is in quot;nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; -
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the form of an eclogue, in which three shepherds are introduced.
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One of these, Buculus, is lamenting his bad fortune in having lost all his cattle, while the others try to console him in offering
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their sympathy. In this lament we are enlightened as to the
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origin, symptoms, and most efficacious treatment of the malady, the sign of the cross being the one certain preventive recommended. The disease appears to have travelled from Hungary,
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through Austria, to Dalmatia. By Brabant it obtained access
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to the Low Countries, Flanders, Picardy, and so on to the other
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provinces of France.
A.D. 381. Theodosius being emperor, Constantinople
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suffered much by an earthquake. Fifty-seven of its late-built towers on the walls were thrown down. It lasted by fits for six months, demolished many fair churches and fortresses, and expelled the citizens from their houses to the fields. It ragednbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; ,
also by sea, swallowed up many ships and several fine islands.
.....These earthquakes were followed bv a great famine, and
the air was so infected that many thousands of people perished by the contagion, with multitudes of cattle.3
Vegetius Renatus, whose writings we will notice more particularly hereafter, was a skilful agriculturist and hippiatrist, was
Iv
1'Commentar. in Luc. Lib. ix. 21.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;'#9632;If'
2nbsp; Magna Bibliotheca Octerum Patrum, per M. de la Bigne, p. 334-
3nbsp; Clark. Exampl.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; ii
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probably contemporary with the invasion of the Huns at this period, and may have been an observer of this epizoöty. He gives us the following description of what he terms the mal'u or malleus (designated maul in the old English translation), and which may have been the Cattle Plasma. After dwelling on the care to be taken of oxen while in health, and showing that no less care and diligence must be employed against their maladies than against those of horses, he says of this malleus : ' As this disease, and removing in different species of distempers from one to many, does bv its infection destroy the horse kind, so it also kills oxen, though by different persons it is called by a different name, and for the most part by that which the common people give it. If at any time this disease attacks an ox, it is recognized by the following symptoms : The hair is erect, and the animal appears sad, his eyes stupid and languid, the head and neck drooping, and saliva continually flowing from his mouth ; his walk is slower than usual; his spine appears to be stiff; he shows a very great loathing, and ruminates very little. If about the beginning of the distemper vou attempt to give him relief, he will escape the danger; but if through negligence you be too slow in applying a remedy, the destructive quality of a disease that is become inveterate cannot be overcome.' After describing the treatment to be pursued, and the necessity for mixing salt with the fodder of oxen, hp remarks as to the causes of disease in these animals, but particularly this malls, in these words: 'If oxen be roused up, so as to be put upon running at their full speed, at any time of the year, but especially in summer, either they contract thereby a looseness which proves pernicious to them, or it gives occasion to slight fevers; for this animal being naturally slow, and rather adapted to labour than to swift motion, is grievously hurt if
forced to any work to which it is not accustomed.....But if
an ox has swallowed hog's excrement, then he presently undergoes the plague of that contagious disease called the jnaul (I quote from the old English translation), which, when once it has broken in upon a herd, either of great or small cattle, whether of such as are trained for labour or otherwise, presently all the animals which have the least suspicion of the distemper must be removed from the usual pasture-ground and distributed
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in those places where no cattle are pastured^ so that they may neither hurt one another nor themselves; for, bv feeding on the grass, they infect it, and the fountains, also, by drinking in them ; and they also infect the cribs in the stalls where they stand: so that oxen, though previously perfectly sound and in good health, perish by the smell and by the breath of those that are sick and diseased blowing upon them. The dead carcases also must be thrown out at a great distance beyond the bounds of the villa, and buried very deep in the earth, lest the bodies of those that are sound be infected by them, and they perish. This distemper is called by one general name, the Plague, or Pestilence, but there are many varieties of it.J The nature of this malady cannot be accurately determined by the symptoms enumerated, but it is obvious that several affections are included in this general designation. For instance, c it is named the 'f humid distemperquot; when a humour flows from the ox's mouth and nostrils, and a loathing and sickness follows upon it. It is called the quot;dry distemperquot; when no discharge appears, but the animal loses condition daily, and has no appetite. It is called the quot;articular diseasequot; when the oxen go lame, sometimes in their fore-feet, and sometimes in their hind-feet, although their hoofs are perfectly sound. It is called the quot; subrenal disease quot; whenever there appears a weakness in their hinder parts, and because they are supposed to have a pain in their loins. It is called thequot;farci-minous diseasequot; when tubercles come out over the oxen's whole body, open themselves, and are healed, and break out again in other places. It is also called the 'f subcutaneous diseasequot; whenever a very bad humour breaks out in different parts of the oxen's body, and discharges. It is called quot; elephantiasis quot; when very small cicatrices appear like scabs, or like small lentils. It is called a quot; mania quot; or quot; madness,quot; which takes away the senses from oxen that are in good condition, so that they neither hear nor see in their usual manner; of which distemper they very quickly die, though they may look fat and cheerful.
f All these diseases are very contagious, and if one animal be seized by them they pass immediately to all; and so they bring destruction sometimes either upon whole herds or upon all those that are fully domesticated and trained to labour. Therefore it
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is that the animals which have been attacked must, with all diligence and care, be separated from the herd, put apart by themselves, and sent to those places where no animal is pastured, lest by their contagion they endanger all the rest, and the negligence of the owner be imputed (as is usually done by fools) to the Divine displeasure.' *
Apsyrtus, a renowned Greek Veterinarian of this period, also speaks in his writings of this mails (paXis), though it is quite as evident that he mixes up indiscriminately the characteristics of several dangerous maladies under the indefinite term.
1 Vegetius Renattis. Ars Veter. London, 1748, p. 221.
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CHAPTER II.
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PERIOD FROM A.D. 400 TO A.D. IJOO.
A.D. 400. In this century we find veterinary science progressing, and becoming more fit to take cognizance of epizootic diseases. The authors who treat of veterinary subjects are more numerous, and some of their works arc yet extant. The Emperor of the Eastern Empire, Constantine, gave every encouragement to the noble emulation he had raised in regard to the conservation of the domestic animals, and the perfecting of the veterinary art, and many able writers dedicated the results of their researches to him. Among these we have Vegetius Renatus, Count of Constantinople, who complains that in his time the science was much neglected, and did not receive all the attention which its importance demanded, and which he estimates next to that of human medicine. In his 'Treatise on the Veterinary Art' he has left us a clearer, more precise, and a more extended catalogue of diseases than any of his predecessors. There is much, of course, in the treatise derived from ignorance and superstition. As a proof of this, we may notice that he avers that if an ox eats the excrement of a pig, he must be treated as a pestiferous animal.1 These weaknesses we must tolerate in return for
1 .SV autcm porcinum stercus bos dcvoraverit statim pestilentiavi contagionis illhi? mallei sustinet morbi. Book iii. chap. ii. It is curious to find Columella giving a similar opinion : Et id pracipue quod egerit sus agra pestilentiam facere valet. Book vi. chap. v.
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the anxiety he displays to add to the slender stock of knowledge in this department of science. He enumerates a great number of pests, all of which he specifies as contagious, but of the correctness of this we may justly have our suspicions.
The humid pest, or maus of the Greeks,—the profluvium atticum of the Romans,—was marked by a mucus, or purulent discharge from the nostrils and mouth, and loathing of food. It appears to have been the glanders of the horse, and in all probability a cattle plague; Nam equinum genus morbus qui appella-tur malleus, diverso genere passionum emigrans per pit/res con-tagmie consumit. Boves quoque idem morhus interficit sed a diversis diverso nomine vocatur. The articular pest was characterized by lameness of the anterior or posterior limbs, the feet being also affected. The skin or subcutaneous pest was contagious, and due to the presence of an acrid humour, which attacked different parts of the body, and did much harm. The animals were continually rubbing themselves. The plague of elephantiasis, or leprosy, was another affection of the skin. The mad plague, in which the oxen neither heard nor saw, and from which they died quickly, although they were lively and in good condition but a short time before. There were also the farcinous, the dry, the renal, and other plagues. According to this writer, whenever an animal was affected by any of these pests, it immediately infected all the others; hence the urgent reason for separating all the diseased at once from those yet in health, and in such a manner that no contact, mediate or immediate, could take place. Cohabitation was always a source of great danger. A change of air and situation was particularly lauded: 7ie con-tagione sud omnibus periculum generet et negligentia Domini sicut solet a stultis fieri, divincB imputentur offensce. When all this had been done, and not till then, every effort was to be made to cure the tainted. Incense and other medicaments, powdered and dissolved in wine, were prescribed and administered by the nostrils. Perfuming and deodorizing with sulphur, bitumen, and marjoram were enjoined, because not only did they favour the operation of the remedies, but they assisted in destroying the pestilential virus, and preserving other animals from the plague.'1 1 Vesretius Renalus. Re Veterinaria.
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Apsyrtus, a famous veterinarian, though not treating of epizootic affections in his ' Hippiatrica/ appears to be better informed than Vegetius on diseases in general, and his treatment is always simple. His descriptions of the symptoms of disease are more exact and life-like, and he seems to have investigated the causes of maladies with much skill. We have an example of this in what he says of the horse when suffering from what he terms fever. ' When the horse is sick from fever, he carries his head heavily, and as if immovable; the eyes are swollen, and he can scarcely open them. The lips and ail the body are flaccid, the testicles pendent, the breath and the body have a burning heat; he fixes his limbs, and is insensible to blows, and when compelled to walk, he is every moment likely to fall.5 We may notice in passing that his picture of fever reminds one most forcibly of the symptoms we observe in influenza of the horse. The causes of fever, he explains, are violent riding, heat, cold, and indigestion, especially that form which arises from having eaten too much grass in the spring-time. His curative measures were bleeding from the temples, and giving exercise moderately the first day. In winter it was necessary to clothe and to keep the patient in a warm stable. If he began to walk better, it was then advisable, if circumstances permitted, to let him go to pasture, or sprinkle his hay with fresh water, but only to allow food gradually. Barley-water could also be given with advantage. To know if a horse had fever, one had only to present him with oats or barley; if he ate, then was he only fatigued, for a feverish horse abhors food, is dull, and only cares to drink. He throws himself on the ground, and is scarcely able to rise. In bleeding it was necessary to take away the blood from veins which were not near nerves (tendons?), because if injured they suffer distension. ' If the disease increases in intensity, the horse dies in three days, not being able to support the violence of the fever any longer than that time. We ought not to believe those who pretend that thev can recognize fever by touching the ears or the shoulders. We ought not to bleed the fatigued horse, because it weakens his strength, and may produce dangerous consequences. It is onlv necessary when the head is overcharged with blood, and the disease requires it/ He tells u? that the
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ignis sacer (gangrenous erysipelas or carbuncle) usually affected the back of the horse, and consisted of a tumour filled with matter, at other times a hard swelling, covered by a crust or scab. The treatment was to open it, dress with pomegranate powder, and poultice with meal. The next day pounded cypress leaves were to be applied, mixed with vinegar, after the wound had been washed. Cabbage leaves bruised in meal were to be used subsequently.1
Hierocles, a Greek hippiatrist, of whose work only three chapters remain, says that the horse is exposed to many kinds of fevers or plagues: one which runs its course in twenty-four hours, and is caused by excesses of any kind. It is an inflammation of the spirits, which affects the blood, and is cured bv repose. The second fever begins by shivering, and finishes by perspiration. The paroxysms last only twelve hours, and when they go beyond that time it is termed bastard fever. To cure it, blood must be abstracted in larger quantity than authors indicate, and experience teaches that bleeding from the neck is very beneficial. Refreshing drinks are also efficacious. Much good results by keeping the bowels open by lavements of mallow, mercury, honev, 8tc. The next fever is one of a continuous nature, and pestilential, due to the presence of corrupt humours in the interior of the vessels, and which it was necessary to treat by blood-letting from the neck, and giving refreshing and cool-ino- food, barley gruel, and enemas. Its cause is owing to too much phlegm in the system, in consequence of bad feeding. Horses too fat and flabby are usually attacked by it in the autumn, and it is difficult to cure. Moderate exercise is necessary for these cases, and the skin should be rubbed with hot oil; while their food should be stimulating and nourishing. This writer only notices the carbuncular disease spoken of by Vegetius as very dangerous to mares, and that it is necessary to dress the tumours, which are hard, and to bathe them with vinegar.
Another Greek veterinarian, by name Pelagonius, who lived about this time, imagines that horses had the pest from too much severe labour, by excessive heat, by great cold, sometimes
1 Apsyrtus. Scrip. Groec. Vet.
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from having suffered from starvation, at other times from having been put to full speed after a long rest, or drinking while hot and perspiring. His remedies were two. The first was an antidote, composed of myrrh, laurel leaves, scrapings of ivory, gentian, and other articles, mixed with wine, and given in doses until the horse was cured. The second smacks strongly of the disgusting quackery of a much later time. A cygnet was to be taken with its feathers on, and simmered in a pot until reduced to ashes. Of these, a portion was to be given in good wine, until the disease disappeared. Salt brine was to be administered at the same time by the nostrils. It was observed in the time of this writer that pestilential and contagious diseases often broke out among the horses of an army when on active service in the field, and were thought to be due to bad nourishment. But when these diseases broke out in time of peace, and in town and country alike, then were the causes more obscure, though they could generally be traced to improper or tainted forage, putrid water, and the foul atmosphere of stables. Much stress is laid in ascertaining the causes of these maladies, and nothing was to be left undone in discovering them. Then means were to be adopted for destroying the poison by medicaments—such as gentian, ivory raspings, laurel leaves, amp;c. If the horse was of a sanguine nature, he was to be bled from the jugular veins, and enemas were to be given. The symptoms of contagious diseases were similar to those of fever, only there was a drier and more furred mouth, and the breathing was more frequent.1
About this time St Jerome writes : ' We have seen in our days swarms of locusts over the land of Judasa, which were afterwards, through the mercy of God, driven by the wind into the first and last sea (in mare primum et novissimum—the Eastern and Western Sea). And when the shores of both seas were filled with heaps of dead locusts, the putrefaction and stench of them were noxious to such a degree as to corrupt the air, and produce a pestilence both among men and some kinds of animals [pesti-lentia tam jumentorum quam hominum g'tgneretnr).'2
a.D. 443. The winter was dreadfully severe. So much snow
1nbsp; La Veterinaria di Pelagonio. Podova, 1828.
2nbsp; Hieronymits. Comment in Joel, chap. ii.
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fell that it was scarcely dissolved in six months after; hence a great destruction of people and cattle.1
a.D. 444. A comet; repeated earthquakes in Turkey followed, and then fever, and, lastly, the plague most extensively. A great mortality among fish. The pabulum of plants seemed at length to be vitiated, and in England there was a great scarcity.2
a.d. 446. In September a severe earthquake, accompanied by disease and famine, at Constantinople. 'At this time a famine invaded Constantinople. ... A great portion of the city walls with fifty-seven towers fell to the ground. Many cities were destroyed. Famineand the stench of the atmosphere killed a great number of men and a thousand oxen/ 3
a.d. 466. A grievous famine prevailed in Britain, and a pestiferous smell in the air killed both man and beast.4
a.d. 484. There was such a drought in Africa that all the springs and rivers were dried up, and men and animals struggled for the withered grass roots in the open fields. So great was the famine, that all living creatures died in heaps, and their bodies lay in every road, without any one to bury them. There was neither dew nor rain, the earth was parched, no corn, vines, olives, or other fruits, nor leaves on any tree. Hence a grievous
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a.d. 502. Scotland suffered very much from an epidemy and epizoöty, which killed great numbers of men and animals.
a.d. 547. St Filo fled from Wales, first to Cornwall and then to Armorica, f on account of the pestilence which nearly destroyed the whole nation/ This disorder ' raged not only against men, but also against beasts and reptiles/ 0 ' There was a mortality in Britain and Ireland/ 7 During the yellow pestilence in Britain and Ireland, cattle were affected.8
a.d. 561. In Ireland 'a poisoned pool made its appearance in that region (Meath), through a chasm of the earth, and a vapour proceeded from it which produced a fatal disease in men and
1 Christ. Matth.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;2 Nicephoms, xv. 10.
3 Bede. Eccles. Hist. ii. p. 66.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 4 Baronius.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;5 Ibid.
6 Book of Landauf.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;7 Cambrian Annals.
8 Liber Landavensis. ' Mortalitas magna qure dicebatur quot;crom conaillcquot; vel flava scabies.'—Tigern, year 550.
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beasts of burden.51 ' At that time a dreadful pestilence {huidhe chonnaill) was ravaging the common people/ 2
A.D. 565. The whole world suffered more or less from epidemic diseases for a number of years. The Ligurian plague raged during this and the following years among mankind. Paulus Diaconus writes, 'Dwellings are vacant and towns deserted, men have disappeared, and there is a great destruction of animals.'3 While the plague was at its height Nicephorus describes a strange fact. ' Certain little marks appeared on the doors and outsides of their houses, on their garments, and on their utensils; some white crusts of a peculiar deposition from the air adhered to all things as damp moulds do on the walls or dwellings, or dew on grass.'quot;4 This unhappy state of affairs was more particularly noted in France, Italy, and Germany.
a.D. 569. 'In this year a great disease, accompanied by dysentery and vai-iola,5 afflicted Italy and Gaul, and neat cattle especially perished in these countries.' 6
a.d. 570. According to Marius, Bishop of Avranches, an epizoöty spread in France and Italy which destroyed nearly all the cattle. This may have been a continuance of that which is mentioned as occurring in the last year. A glandular affection also manifested itself among men.7
1nbsp; St /Edus, vol. i. p. 422.
2nbsp; Si Brigidia, vol. ii. p. 536. In the ancient Irish records mention is often made of the Buidhe Chonnaill, which was a disease affecting both the human and bovine species.
3nbsp; Paul. Diacon. Caps. iv. xxiii. Muratori. Scrip. Rerum Ital., vol. i. p. 426.
4nbsp; Nicephorus. Hist. Eccles.
5nbsp; Grave doubts are entertained as to the etymology of this word, and the question remains a disputed one as to whether it be the variolus disease that is here meant. Heusinger thinks that this variola, because it is mentioned with other maladies of a pustular and bubonic nature, was nothing else than the true plague, and he only believes in the appearance of small-pox at a much later period. There can be now no doubt, however, that the learned pathologist is incorrect: small-pox is frequently mentioned in the early Saxon writings, both by its common and Latin designations, and its presence in Ireland is indicated at a period not far removed from this mentioned by Marius. Hecker (Anualen, 1828) is, therefore, I think, quite justified in writing ' wir stehen nicht länger an die pustularfest im sechsten Jahrhundert für pocken zu erklaren.' For the notices of this disease in early England refer to Saxon Leechdoms, London, 1866.
6nbsp; Marius. Episcop. Chronicon. Vuchesne. Scrip. Rer. Franc, vol. i. p. 215. ' Ibid.
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a.d. 571. On September 24 there was a prodigious slaughter of wild fowl in a fight.1
a.d. 580. Great floods, tempests, earthquakes, hail, and other misfortunes, ushered in a dreadful plague of a dysenteric nature, and great loss of cattle, during the fifth year of the reign of King Childebert.
a.d. 581. There was in this year an epizoöty among the cattle in Touraine, which, according to Gregory of Tours, could not be prevented or cured until the Church interfered, when a religious ceremony had the wished-for effect in driving away the malady.2 The same credulous worthy informs us that about this time an epizoöty also broke out among the horses of Bordelais, which would not cease its ravages until vows were made to St Martin, and the solipeds had their foreheads branded with a red-hot key, probably belonging to the church door.
a.d. 582. In Ireland ' great snow,—great cattle mortality.'3
a.d. 583. Inundations in France. ' A disease amongst cattle followed this inundation, so that scarcely one remained, and it was a novelty for any one to see an ox or a heifer in the land.' *
a.d. 584. f Locusts in the province of Carpitania, which they laid waste for five years. In this year they departed by the public roads to another province. The hoar frost greatly damaged the vines, and a tempest of hailstones followed, which destroyed them, and also the crops in many places. A severe drought finished the work of the hailstorm. But little fruit was seen on some vines, on others none; so that men being wroth with the gods, threw open their vineyards, and the cattle trod all down. The trees which brought forth apples in July had a second crop in September. A disease of cattle invaded them a second time, so that scarcely one remained.' 5
a.d. 589. Great floods in Italy, doing much damage. The Tiber overflowed its banks, deluged Rome and the surrounding country, drowning great numbers of men and cattle. On the
1nbsp; nbsp;T. Short. A General Chronological History of the Air, etc. London, 1749, vol. i. p. 73.
2nbsp; Greg. Tur. De Mirac. St Martin, lib. iii. cap. 18.
3nbsp; Annals of Innisfallen.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;* St Gregory. -Francor. Histor. vol. vi. p. 31. 5 Ibid. vi. Bouquet, vol. ii. p. 289.
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disappearance of the waters, all the fields were found covered with slime and mud, the grain was all destroyed, and myriads of serpents and other creatures lay putrefying in the hot steaming atmosphere. This is supposed to have given rise to the plague which soon broke out in mankind and the lower animals.1
A.D. 591. A plague of locusts invaded Italy. They were supposed to have come from Africa. After eating up every green herb or leaf, they were, as usual, blown into the sea, and being washed on shore again, their putrefaction was the cause of disease, which killed nearly a million of men and beasts. Mankind in Britain, Turenne, and the provinces of Arragon and Vivares, suffered much from an epidemic named inguinaria, marked chiefly by buboes. St Gregory gives us the following account of an epizoöty which appeared in France and Belgium. ' In the second month of this year a great pestilence destroyed the people and a fearful drought ensued, which no kind of herb escaped; from this arose a grievous plague amongst cattle and oxen, which increasing, left scarcely any to breed from. Not only did this plague affect the domestic animals,—it also attacked wild creatures. The remains of a multitude of stags and other beasts were found dead in the forests. Forage was destroyed by the overflowing of the rivers and streams, and corn there was none. Vines, however, were heavily laden, but acorns did not attain their full development.'2 Wirth is of opinion that the epizoöty was one of anthrax or ' milzbrand.'3
A.D. 605-6. In these years there was excessively hot weather with droughts, which gave rise to a famine, and consequent plague in mankind and in cattle throughout Italy.4
a.D. 661. 'After one year more, there was a great pestilence among the birds, so that there was an intolerable stench by sea and land,arising from the carcases of birds, both great and small.'5
A.D. 671. ' This year there was a great mortality among the fowls {fngla val).'0
A.D. 684. 'A mortality (or-slaughter) upon all animals in
1 Baronius. Imper. Hist.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;s St Gregory. Op. cit., vol. x. p. 30.
3 Wirth, Lehrbuch der Seuchen und Ansteckenden Krankheiten der Haus-thicre. Zürich, 1846, p. 85.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;4 Baronius. Op. cit.
5 The Chronicle of Fabius Ethelwerd. 6 Chronic. Saxon. Edit. C/tolaquo;, p. 41.
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general throughout the whole world for the space of three years, so that there escaped not one out of the thousand of any kind of animals. There was great frost in this year, so that the lakes and rivers of Ireland were frozen; and the sea between Ireland and Scotland was frozen, so that there was a communication between them on the ice. Adarnnan went to Saxon land.'1
a.d. 689. An epizoüty. devastated the cattle of Ireland. ' It rained blood in Leinster this year j butter was turned into the colour of blood.'2 'It rained blood seven days together through all Britain; and milk, cheese, and butter turned to blood.' 3
a.d. 694. f A great morren of cattle throughout all England.' 4
Hardyng,5 narrating the distress in England about this period, writes:
' Their catell dyed for faute of fode cche daye, Withouten meate or any sustenance, In townes and feldes, and the common waye, Through which their infecte was by that chance, That multitude of folke, in great substaunce, On hepys laye full lyke unto the mountaynes That horrible was of sight above the playns.'
a.d. 695. 'The same morren of cowes came into Ireland the next year, and began in Moythrea, in Teaffia. There was such famyue and scarcitie in Ireland for three years together, that men and women did eat one another for want.' 6
a.d. 696. 'A mortality broke out among cows in Hibernia, on the Kalends of February, in Magh Treagha, in Teathbha . . . Great frost in this year, so that the lakes and rivers of Erinn were frozen over, and the sea between Erinn and Alba was frozen to such an extent that people used to travel to and fro on the ice. Famine and pestilence prevailed during three years in Hibernia, to that degree that man ate man.' 7
1 The Annals of the Four Masters.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 Annals of Clonmacnoise.
3 Isac. Chronic. Clark's Mirrour.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 4 Annals of Clonmacnoise.
5nbsp; The Chronicle of John Hardyng, composed in the 14th century.
6nbsp; Annals of Clonmacnoise.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;, Chronicon Scotorum.
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a.D. 698. quot; f Cattle destruction in Saxon land.'1
a.d. 699. f A mortality of cattle raged in Ireland in the Kalends öf Februarvj in the plain of Trego, in the region of Teffia,'2 now Moytra^ in the county of Longford. 'The mortality of cattle broke out on the first of the Calends of Febru-aryj in Magh Tregha, in Tethbha/3 ' Destruction of black cattle in Saxonia (Saxon land).'4
a.d. 700, 701, 704, 707. CA distemper of black cattle kindled in Ireland on the first of February, in the plain of Trego, in Teffia.' ' A mortality of cattle.'—Bovind mortalitas.6
a.d. 708. 'The plague which is called Baccag/i (lameness), with dysentery in Ireland.'0 The term Baccacn is sometimes applied to the dry murrain in cattle in this island. (Sir W. Wylde, Census of Ireland.)
a.d. 744, 747, 748. Snow of unusual depth, so that almost all the cattle of Ireland perished, followed in 744 and 748 by unaccustomed drought.7
a.d. 765. In Ireland, ' Great mortality among cows this year.'8
a.d. 770. ' There reigned many diseases in Ireland this year. A sreat morren of cows ran over the whole kingdom, called the Moylegarou.'0 This is the first introduction of the term Maelgarth, a skin disease of cattle characterized by roughness and loss of hair, and which appeared frequently in 'after times. It is difficult to make out what malady is meant, whether it be scabies, erysipelas, or even the carbuncular form of anthrax.
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1 Annals of Clonmacnoise.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 Annals of Ulster.
3 Chronicon Scotorum.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 4 Annals of Tighernach.
5 Ibid. Annals of Ulster. Chronicon Scotorum, Edit. 1867. In early Irish history, epizoöties are defined as Ar, mortality : such as Bo-ar, cattle mortality, usually rendered by the early English translators of the annals, 'a murrain.' Occasionally the term Dibhadh, loss, or total failure, is applied to cattle pestilences ; thus, one of the ancient kings is styled Breasal Bo-dhibhadh, ' Brassil of the cow-mortality,' because in his reign it is said nearly all the cows of Ireland became extinct. B)ä/i, loss, want, destruction—applies to inanimate things as well as to mortality of men or animals.
quot; Annals of Ulster.
7nbsp; Annals of Clonmacnoise. Annals of Ulster. Annals of Tighernach.
8nbsp;Annals of Innisfallen.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;9 Annals of Clonmacnoise.
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A.D. 772. 'The murrain of the cows in Ireland still continued, and which was worse, great scarcity and penury of victuals among men continued. The pox (small-pox) came all over the kingdom.' 1
A.D. 776. 'A great fall of rain and great wind. Dysentery [Rithfola) and many diseases besides. Mortality almost; the great mortality of cows {Bo-ar-mor).'%
A.D. 777. In Ireland, 'The running of blood (Ritu-fola, dysentery). The great mortality of cows {Bo-nr-mor).'3
a.D. 778. In Ireland, ' Mortality of cattle [Bovum mortali-tas) ceased not, and the mortality of men from want. The small-pox {Bolgach) all over Erinn. A very great wind at the end of autumn/ 4
A.D. 784. In Germany a severe drought, and a plague among men and animals.5
a.d. 791. Campaign of Charlemagne against the Huns, beyond the Danube, and in Bavaria and Austria. 'This expedition was accomplished without any mishap, except that in the portion of the army led by the king (while in Hungary) there broke out so great a plague among the horses that it is said scarcely a tenth part of the many thousands remained/ 6 We are left in doubt as to the nature of the malady.
a.d. 797. In Ireland, 'destruction of cows among the Momonians, Darians, and Adhuar, son of Nechin.'7
a.d. 798. In Ireland, 'great snow, in which much cattle and people perished/8
a.d. 800. A great earthquake and a severe winter. Cattle epizootics in various places, as well as epidemics. ' In this year the sea overflowed its boundaries, forgetting that which the Psalmist says, quot; I have placed this boundary, which shall not be transgressed.quot; It caused great havoc among cattle in many parts.'9
a.d. 801. Earthquakes experienced in France, Germany,
1 Annals of Clonmacnoise.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;2 Annals of Ulster.
3 Ibid.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;4 Ibid.
5nbsp;JIagek and Liboczan. Annal. Bohemor., vol. i. p. 348.
6nbsp; Einhardi. Annal. Pertz., M. i. p. 177.
7nbsp; Annals of Innisfallen.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;^ Annals of Ulster.
^ Simon Dimelmens. De Gest. Rer. Angl. Twysdcn. Scrip. His. Angl. p. 116.
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and Italy. St Paul's, at Rome, was thrown down in the month of April. ' Plagues and epizoöties, following sanguinary wars, as well as shocks of earthquake, occurred in the realms of Charlemagne, soon after the crowning of that monarch/1
Agobard, an archbishop of Lyons, who lived in the reign of Charlemagne, recounts the history of a great epizoöty among cattle in France. Its origin was attributed to Grimoald, Duke of Benevento, who, it was said, hated the Christian king, and sent emissaries with enchanted powders to sprinkle over the land; these powders were composed of a substance capable of killing animals. This poisonous ingredient was sprinkled over the pasture on mountain and plain, or on the cattle; even the springs of water were rendered deadly by it. Some of the men were seized, and, when tortured, confessed that they had been using powders to cause the death of the oxen; after which confession they were tied to planks and thrown into a river.2 Such is the archbishop's version of the story.
The great mortality would lead one to infer that it was the real ' lovum pestilens,' conve.yzlt;\ from the districts in which the great emperor had been conqueror, and where he had, no doubt, levied taxes in kind on the conquered. But poisons of this nature were often supposed to be propagated by wicked or stupid people, in ages of darkness, and even in those of more enlightened times. Indeed, it would seem that from the time of Thucy-dides to the present day, when a strange disease suddenly appeared, the masses have always entertained suspicions as to its mortal effects being due to poisonous substances introduced into the water, food, or air, by malicious people.
A.D. 804. In Bohemia, 'a plague raged not only in man, but in all kinds of animals, and attacked Mnata himself.'3
A.D. 809-10. A great epizoöty among cattle on the Continent. It came from the east and penetrated to the west.4 A Saxon poet gives us the following description : ' On all sides the peace of the present year had gladdened the empire to its bound-
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1 Metaxa. Delle Malattie Contagiose ed Epizoötiche, etc. Roma, 1817. Vol. i. p. 133.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;^ Baluze. Annal. de Franc. YearSoi.
3nbsp; Hagek and Liboczan. Annals of Bohemia, vol. i. p. 413.
4nbsp; Chronicon Moissiac. Pertz, M. i. p. 30g.
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aries; liut a certain sadness had touched many lands, for a very fierce pestilence destroyed every kind of cattle. Joyfully the shepherds drove their flocks and herds to the green fields, from whence, however, but a small portion returned, drooping and heavy, showing svmptoms of disease and the near approach of death in their emaciated condition. The greater number lay stretched in the meadows, where they breathed forth their lives amid the sweet herbage. And now the pastures stink from the
dead bodies spread out on them.....The stables were cleansed
with such great labour, that when they saw an animal sick and about to die they preferred rather to slay it. This they did with an iron instrument. Immediately from the bloody wound there flowed the poison which betrayed its effects throughout the whole body. Noricus and the neighbouring regions are said to have suffered most grievously from this plague/ 1
This, in all probability, was another invasion of the dreadful ' Rinderpest/ which appears to have extended beyond Norica, and to have committed havoc in this country; for we read that ' eight hundred and ten was the year of Christ when the moon turned black on Christmas Day (according to Petrie and Sharp, quot;Monumenta Historica Britannica,quot; this was in 809), and Menevia was burnt, and there happened the greatest mortality among horned cattle in Britain that is on record.'2 'A mortality among cattle in Britain [mortalitas pecorum in Britannia).'s
It would be most interesting if we could trace this disease in its progress to the British isles, but I think there can be no doubt whatever as to the existence of the 'Cattle Flaa-ue' in Britain at this early period. The Archives of the Imperial Agricultural Society of Southern Russia state that the disease at this period was imported from the Asian shores of the Black Sea into Europe. It appeared in Hungary and Illyria, and from thence spread rapidly throughout Germany, Austna,and Flanders, destroying enormous numbers of cattle. From thence it was probably imported into England.
1nbsp; Poetoe Saxon. Annal. Bouquet, vol. v. p. 169, v. 236.
2nbsp; Brut y Tywysogion, or Chronicles of the Prince of Wales.
3nbsp; Annales Cambrias.
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The origin of the malady, or rather the cause of its spread, might be ascribed to the wars then occurring.
Indeed, we .read for 810, that in the campaign of Charlemagne against the Northmen or Scandinavians on the Elbe and Weser, ' So great was the pestilence of oxen in this expedition that scarcely in the whole army did one remain, but all perished ; and not only there, but a plague among animals, causing a dreadful mortality, broke out in all the provinces conquered bv the Emperor/1 Elsewhere for this year it is noted: 'A very great mortality amongst oxen Jaid waste nearly the whole of Europe, and more especially Britain/2 In the Chronicle of St Denis it is mentioned that the oxen and the hamp;tes aumailles in France perished in great numbers.3 Wirth4 speaks of anthrax being prevalent in Germany, but it may have been this ' Cattle Plague.'
j\.d. 820. Excessive rains and cold damp weather, with inundations and scarcity of food, in Gaul. War against the Sclavonians in Pannonia. 'In this year, on account of the perpetual rains and the moist state of the atmosphere, great evils occurred. For a pestilence soon spread both to man and beast, so that scarcely any part of the whole kingdom of the Franks escaped its ravages. The corn, also, and the leguminous plants were damaged by the continual rains. The grapes did not ripen; thev were sour and unpleasant.' deg;
The ' Cattle Plague' appeared in Hungary, and after raging there with great violence, passed away to the west of Europe.6 This may have been the malady mentioned above as devastating the kingdom of the Franks.
A.D. 823. A severe winter and a dry summer, with heavy storms. The snow lay on the ground for twenty-nine weeks, and caused great loss of human and animal life. Pestilence in the summer. ' In many places the crops were destroyed by hailstorms, and in certain localities stones of immense weight fell. . .
1nbsp; Einhardi. Annales. Pertz, M. i. p. 198. Annal. Fuldens. Ibid. I.
2nbsp; Higdeni. Polychronicon. Gale. Scrip. Hist. Brit., i. p. 252.
3nbsp; Chroniques de St Denis. Edit. Pauline, 1837.
4nbsp; nbsp;Wirth. Op. cit. p. 85.
*gt; Einhardi. Op. cit. p. 207. Annal. Fuldens, p. 357. 6 Archives Imp. Agric. Soc. of Southern Russia.
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Men and other animals were killed by lightning. Then followed a great plague among men, which extended through the whole of France in a fearful manner, destroying multitudes of different sexes and ages.'' This plague of an unknown character extended to Germany, killing men and animals.
A.D. 829. 'There was a plague in Greece, Thrace, and Bulgaria, contemporaneously with an epizoöty among sheep.'2
a.d. 843. c A dreadful famine and consequent mortality, with a quot; murrian quot; among cattle, caused great calamities throughout the world.'3
a.d. 850. Great mortality among the cattle in France, so that many provinces were nearly entirely cleared of their horned stock.4 This appears to have been another invasion of the ' Cattle Plague/ which also ravaged Germany and Spain at this time.5
a.d. 860. The preceding winter was so severe that the Mediterranean was frozen over to such an extent, that carriages were driven on the Adriatic Sea. f A severe winter and mortality amongst animals.' 6
a.d. 866. 'This year a disease of animals took place, and in the third year afterwards a mortality followed in the human species.'7
a.d. 868. ' A comet, severe famine, and mortality of men and animals.'8 This occurred in Germany, and nearly all over Europe, but France appears to have suffered most.9 ' In this year the Northmen invaded England; and plundering the country, retired to York with their booty. A great famine, and a fearful mortality among cattle and the human race occurred.'l0
a.d. 869. ' In the year of our Lord's incarnation 869, which was the twenty-first of King Alfred's life, there was a great famine (in England), and mortality of men, and a pestilence among the cattle.' u
Inbsp; Einhardi. Op. cit. p. 212.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; quot; Fran. Delia Feste, vol. ii. p. 211.
3nbsp; nbsp;Odericus Vitalis. Eccles. Hist., book i. cap. 24.
4nbsp; Bellcforesi. Annales de France.
5nbsp; Arch. Agric. Soc. of Southern Russia.
6nbsp; Annales Sangaliens. Pertz, M. i. p. 76.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; ' Eulogium Historiarum. 8 Dnchesne. Vol. iii. p. 473. 9 Annal. Verdun.
10 Asser. De Rebus Gestis Alfredi, p. 20. Edit. Oxon. 1722.
IInbsp; The Chronicle of Fabius Ethelwerd. Chronicle of St Evroult.
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A.D. 870. A hot and dry summer^ and multitudes of locusts in France. ' A pestilence among cattle in some parts of France, which spread so rapidly as to cause great loss to many.'' Tempests of hail and lightning did great damage to people, cattle, and grain.2
A.D. 873-4. An invasion of locusts in Gaul.3 A very severe and long winter, which destroyed great numbers of animals and men.4
A.D. 878. 'An eclipse of the moon in October. An eclipse of the sun in November. In Germany, a great plague amongst oxen, especially in the Rhine provinces. Soon after a pestilence appeared in man, which resembled that in cattle.'5 A certain town in Wormacense, not far from the Palatinate of Ingalen-heim, named Walahesheim, had wonderful things happen in it; for whilst dead animals were daily dragged from their stables into the fields, the dogs which were in this town, as is their custom, devoured the dead bodies by tearing them to pieces. On a certain day, however, nearly all of them being congregated in one place, they all went away, and so completely had they disappeared, that none of them, either living or dead, were ever found.'6 CA mortal pestilence amongst cattle, especially about the Rhine. Dogs and birds, which at first collected round the dead bodies, suddenly disappeared.'7 This was in all probability an epizoöty of anthrax, and the carnivorous creatures were no doubt poisoned by feeding on the carcases. In Ireland, 'Great dearth [ascolt mor) of cattle-food in the spring; a great flux [fluxus magnus) in the autumn.'8
A.D. 883. A famine and plague in Italy, and in the following year a pestilence at Oxford, which also affected the cattle, slaying great numbers.
A.D. 886. ' This year pestilence in animals throughout the whole world.'!)
A.D. 887. The previous year had been very wet, and there were great inundations. ' A very severe and tedious winter.
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1 Annales Fuldens. Pertz, M. v. p. 383.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 Chronic. Magdeburg.
3 Reginotiis. Chronic, book ii.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;4 Annal. Fuldens.
6 Ibid.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 6 Ibid.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 1 Pistor. German. Hist., vol. ii. p. 570.
8 Annals of Ulster.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 9 Eulogium Historiarum.
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also a plague amongst oxen and sheep extended beyond measure in France, so that scarcely any of these animals were left/ 1
a.d. 888. The campaign of the Emperor Arnulph^ or Arnold, of Germany, in Upper Italy, towards Friuli. ' In this march, o;reat consternation was caused bv the horses dying so rapidly, that the loss was unparalleled in history.'2
A.D. 894. Anthrax prevailed among animals in Italy.3
a.d. 895-7. The first recorded invasion of locusts in Britain and Ireland, preceded bv bloody rain, and followed by a general scarcity, when great mortality of cattle and other animals occurred : the effects lasted thirteen years. All the authorities who mention it are Welsh. ' Provisions failed in Ireland ; for vermin of a molc-iike nature, each having two teeth, fell from heaven, which devoured all the food; and through fasting and prayer they were driven away/4 'After this, anno 897, poore Ireland had another scourge; for, saith Caradoc Lhancarvan in his British Chronicle, and likewise Polichronicon, this country was destroyed bv strange worms, having two teeth, so that there.was neither corn nor grasse, nor food for man or beast, for all was consumed that was greene in the land for the season of the yeare.'5
a.d. 896. A dreadful famine and pestilence, caused by unseasonable weather, in Gaul, Germany, and Italy. Arnulph, on his return from Italy across the Alps, seems again to have had an epizoöty among his horses. 'The great plague amongst the horses increased, being aggravated by the extraordinary difficulties of the march; so that, contrary to custom, oxen were employed to draw the litters instead of horses.'e Wirth speaks of anthrax having prevailed on a most extensive scale amongst the domestic animals in Europe, and of its being without doubt transmitted to mankind, as an epidemy of this nature was prevalent.7
a.d. 897. Great famine in France and Germany, but especially in Bavaria. In England, disease in cattle and in men. 'In the summer of this year went the army, some into East Anglia, and
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1 Annal. Fuldens.
4 Chronicles of 'Wales.
6 Annal. Fuldens, v.
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quot; 5 Hanmcr. Chronicle. 7 Op. cit. p. 85.
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some into Northumbria; and those that were penniless got them ships, and went south over sea to the Seine. The enemy had not, thank God, entirely destroyed the English nation; but it was much more weakened in these three years by the disease in cattle, and, most of all, in men, so that many of the mightiest of the Kiiiü-'s thanes that were in the land, died within three years.'1
a.D. 899. In Ireland, 'a rainy year; a great dearth; mortality of cattle.'2 Rabies in a bear at Lyons, and singular escape of some men whom it had bitten. ' About the year 900 of. our era immense forests covered ßiirarundv, Mäconnais, Brescia, and part of Lyonnais. These forests were tenanted by wild boars, wolves, bears, and other ferocious animals. One day, a mad bear, following the course of the river Saone, at last reached the quay at Lyons. Everybody fled at its approach, except some boatmen who, armed with heavy sticks, attempted to kill it. The bear, however, little intimidated by their number, rushed amongst them, and bit many—about twenty. Oi this party six were smothered in about twenty-seven days, in consequence of fearful madness. The other fourteen, however, had thrown themselves into the river to escape the animal's attacks, and having to swim to the opposite bank, were thus preserved from the effects of the poison; the water of the river had saved them, for in beating against their wounds it had washed away the venom.'3
a.D. 903. In Ireland, f great mortality of cattle and birds, so that the voice of thrush or blackbird was not heard this year.'4
a.D. 908. In Ireland, 'mortality of cattle.'5
a.d. 916. 'Great snow, cold, and unusual frost in this year, so that the chief lakes and rivers of Ireland were passable; and a destruction was brought upon cattle, birds, and salmon. Evil signs, too; the heavens seemed to glow with comets, a flame of fire arose, and passed from beyond the west of Ireland until it passed over the sea eastwards.'(i
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1 Chronicles of the Saxons. 3 Messager de Provence. 5 Annals of Ulster.
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1 Annals of Innisfallen.
6 Ibid.
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a.D. 918. In Ireland, ' great cold {coisne) and snow, which brought on mortality of cattle.'1
a.D. 929. A most severe winter, and the Thames frozen over.
a.D. 939. ' Kalend. Jun. die Sabbati hora nona flamma exivit de mari et incendit plurimas villas et urbes et homines et bestias, et in ipso mari pinnas incendit/2
a.D. 940. An epizooty among the cattle in France, Italy, and Germany.3 Probably the ' Rinderpest.'
a.D. 941. An'epizoöty of a deadly character in the north-of Europe. Thousands of cattle died. f A comet was seen, and an extensive mortality amongst the oxen followed its appearance.' 4 After this animal plague, which may have been the same as in the previous year, an epidemy broke out in man.
a.d. 942. Inundations, and subsequently a murrain among cattle in Germany.5 ' A great famine throughout the whole of •France and Burgundy, and extensive mortality among the oxen, which increased to such a degree that few remained in these countries.'li Comets appeared in the month of October, which lasted for twenty-one days, and after that time there happened a disease among oxen.'' ' In this year (941) a comet appeared in the western heavens. The year following there was a severe murrain among oxen throughout the whole of Germany, France, Burgundy, Aquitaine, and Italy, but it did not last long in the latter country.'8
In Ireland, a disease or ' fight' among birds. 'There was contention seen to be between the fowls of the sea and the fowls of the land at Clonvicknosc, where there was a great slaughter of crows of one side.'9
a.d. 943. For this year we find the continental historians
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1 Chronicon Scotorum.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 Chronicon Burgens. Espana Sagrada.
3 Herman. Chronicon. ! 4 Reginon. Chronic. Pistor. Scrip. Rerum German., i. p. 104.
5nbsp; nbsp;Widukindi. Lib. ii. Pertz, M. v. p. 446.
6nbsp; Chronicon Frodoardi. Bouquet. Vol. viii. p. 196.
7nbsp; Chronic. Monast. Florent. Bouquet. Vol. ix. p. 55. Lobineau. Hist, de Bretagne.
8nbsp; Chronic. Andegav. Bouquet. Vol. viii. p. 252.
9nbsp; Annals of Clonmacnoise.
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mention the same events as in the previous year, and as occtir-ring in the same countries.1 Wirth speaks of the epizooty in Germany as anthrax.
A.D. 945. ' There was in this year a furious mortality of people throughout France, caused not only by the famine and scarcity of food, but by an epidemic malady known as the ' faim canine.'2
a.d. 950. In Ireland, 'a mortality of bees.'3
A.D. 953. ' A destruction in Ireland through unknown insects having two teeth.'4 Evidently locusts.
a.d. 953. c A great destruction of cows throughout Ireland.'5
a.D. 955. ' There was a great dearth of cattle this vear, and many diseases generally reigned all over Ireland, by reason of the great frost and snow, which procured the intemperature of the air.'c
a.d. 959. In Ireland, ' a bolt of fire passed southwards through Leinster, and it killed a thousand persons and flocks, as far as Athclaith.'7 In 960, f an arrow of fire came from the south-west alona: Leinster, and killed hundred thousands of men and cattle, with the houses of Dublin burned.'8 To what extent the ligbtning caused this mortality cannot be surmised, but it is not improbable that the effects of epidemic and epizootic disorders may be referred to, the lightning being used figuratively.
a.d. 960. A widely-spread destructive malady amongst cattle in the Roman territories. ' And in those days, even long ago, there went on both invading the land of the Romans, and ravaging and destroying the horned cattle, the infectious and pestilential affection which is called quot; crabra.quot; And they saynbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;,
that this affection or disease took its rise in the days of the old Roman (Romanus I., Emperor of the East ?); for when very near to the cistern or reservoir {Kiva-Tepv-qs) of Bonus, the Roman was erecting, as a resting-place for himself, a summer palace (or
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1nbsp; nbsp;Chronic. St Maxent. Bouquet. Vol. ix. p. 8.
2nbsp; Mezcray. Hist, de France, 1685. Vol. i. p. 677.
3nbsp; Annals of Ulster. 4 Dawling. Annals of Ireland. 5 Annals of Ulster.
6nbsp; Annals of Clonmacnoise.
7nbsp; nbsp;Annals of the Four Masters.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 8 Annals of Ulster.
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palaces for the summer season), and they were laying the foundations, it was reported that there was found a marble ox's head, which the finders having broken up, cast into the lime-kiln. From that time, and up to the present, the breeds of cattle have not ceased to be destroyed in all parts of the earth wheresoever the Empire of the Romans extends.'1
In Ireland, ' A great {plaigh) upon cattle, with snow and diseases [galar).'2
a.D. 975. A severe winter and scarcity of food in London, and also in Italy. A comet was seen. ' In the time of this Edward {the martyr) appeared a blazing star, after which ensued many inconveniences, as well to man as to beasts, such as hunger, sickness, murrain, and other like calamities, but none of these things happened in the days of this Edward, but after his death.'3
a.d. 981. A moilgarb, or epizoöty of a cutaneous character, previously unknown in Ireland until 770, began, and preceded a most severe form of colic, called ' pestilential.' ' This vear began the murrain of cows, called, in Ireland, the Moilgarbh.'4
A.D. 986. ' In this year first came the great murrain {yrf-cvalm) among the cattle into England.'5 ' A great sudden destruction, which caused a loss of people and cattle among the Saxons, Britons, and Gauls.'6 'And the same year there was a great murrain {moreyn) of cattle through all Wales.'7
f Godfrey, son of Harold, with the black host, devastated the isle of Mona, and two thousand men were blinded (captured ?), and the remainder Maredudd, son of Owain, took with him to Ceredigion and Dyved. And then a mortality [uaruolyacth) took place among all the cattle over the whole island of Britain.'8
What the nature of this very prevalent and destructive epizoöty may have been it is difficult now to conjecture ; but from
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1nbsp; nbsp;G. Cedreitus. Synop. Historiarum. Edit. Bonn, ii. p. 343.
2nbsp; Chronicon Scotorum. The edition of 1867 gives 959 as the date.
3nbsp; nbsp;Grafton. Chronicles of the History of England. London, 1569.
4nbsp; Annals of Clonmacnoise.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; ä Chronic. Saxon.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; G Annals of Ulster. , D. Powel. The History of Cambria, 1584.
8 Brut y Tywysogion, or Chronicles of the Prince of Wales.
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what is narrated for the subsequent year^ it would appear to have been of a dysenteric character. What is worthy of note, however, in reference to the condition of comparative pathology and agriculture at this period, is, that though Wales often suf-nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;, | fi
fared from the evil effects of general diseases among animals, yet, from the earliest days of her written history, we find the ancient Welsh far in advance of other western nations in agri
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animals. The state of their medical science is less known, and regret must be expressed that the Red Book of Hergest (Med-di/gon Myddfut) has not yet found a translator;1 containing, as it may do, very much that would be of value to the student of medicine.
From her agrarian laws, which are greatly superior to those of France or Germany at that somewhat remote epoch, we find every provision made for equitable dealing in animals, and sometimes also a reference to important maladies of a sporadic or general kind. The laws of warranty appear to have been very wisely, framed, and enumerate the chief animal disorders as follows :—2
f A horse is to be warranted against three disorders : against the staggers, for three dew-falls ; against the quot; black strangles quot; (this has been literally translated, as the latter term is, at present, the appellation for that distemper. With the prefix quot;black,quot;
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it may mean the quot; glanders quot;), for three moons; and against the farcy (the original quot; llynmeirich quot; appears to signify some disorder accompanied with serious humours) for one year.' ' The worthnbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; ,
of a horse's foot is his full worth, and a third of his worth is an eve, and the worth of the other eye is another third. For every blemish in a horse, one third of his worth is to be returned, his ears and tail included.
* If a horse be sold in which there is a fault, but not visible on the skin, it is not to be compensated, unless it be one of the three natural disorders, but an oath is to be made of its not being shown.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; M
1nbsp; The MS. is now, I believe, at Oxford.
2nbsp; These extracts are from the Laws of Howel the Good, which were revised
about A.D. 1025.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; h\
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' Whosoever shall sell a steer to another, it is right for him to be answerable for the three disorders incident to cattle; and, further, for the mange {clauenj) until the feast of Saint Patrick. The person who shall buy it is to keep it in pasture, and in a healthy place, and in a building wherein no mange has previously occurred for seven years; and for the staggers three dew-falls.'
The teithi of a sow are, that she be not always brimming, and that she do not devour her pigs; and to be warranted three nights and three days against the quinsey (the original signifies some disorder affecting the throat). ' If the boar be gelded and die, his two testicles are worth two sows, and his carcase equal to another/ 1
Sheep were to be warranted against the rot' until the calends of May, when she shall have satiated herself three times with the new herbage.' (B. iii. c. 8.)
c Whoever shall sell a horse is to insure its dilysrwydd until death ; and against the staggers, for three dew-tails; against the strangles, for three moons ; against the farcy, a year; and, in addition, he is to insure it against any inward disorder.' (B. ii.
C. 28.)2
' Whoever shall sell sheep, let him be answerable for three diseases : the rot [y lledora), the red-water [ar daris or dcriiyr rud), and the scab {ar dauri); until they obtain their fill three times of the new grass in spring, if he sell them after the kalends of winter.' (B. ii. c. 12.)3
' The judges of Howel the Good were not able to fix a legal worth on a brock : for, during the year that the swine were affected with the quinsey, it obtained the privilege of a dog (with regard to value), and during the year tliat there was a madness among the dogs, it then obtained the privilege of a sow.' (Gwen-tian Code, B. ii. c. 23.)
In other codes of about the same period we find, for pigs, the following:—
f Siquis uendiderit sues, debet esse sub tribus: id est, dylys-sruyt (evictione); et morbo menyclauch (strumarum) tribus die-
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1 These are from the Venedotian Code. 2 From the Dimetian Code.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 3 From the Gwentian Code.
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bus et tribus noctibus, et ne comedant porcellos; et si come-derint, tercia pars precii reddatur emptori, nee recambire debent inditio.'
And for sheep :—
1 Signis oves vendiderit, debet esse sub dylyssruyt (evictione) ; et sub dere (vertigine) tribus diebus et tribus noctibus; et sub liederu (morbo pulmonis) a festo Sancti Michaelis in autumno usque ad medium Aprilis, donee ter comederunt usque ad satietatem ac novis pareilis in vere.'
f Agnorum venditor debet esse sub dilyssruyt (evictione); et sub dere (vertigine) tribus diebus et noctibus; et sub Scah'ie a festo Omnium Sanctorum usque ad Kalendas Aprilis; et sub liederu (morbo pulmonis) a predicto festo usque Kalendas Mail; emptor non debet ducere eos agnos Scabiosos septem annis ante.'
A.D. 987. An excessive drought and a most scorching heat during the summer. Bad weather brought a famine on many countries.1 A serious epizoöty appeared among cattle in England in the form of dysentery, which caused a great mortality. Malignant fevers among the people. ' In this year two plagues of an unknown character appeared in England, to wit: fever among men, and pestilence among animals and men, which the English term ' scitta/ but which in Latin is known as dysentery {fluxus). These ravaged the whole of England, and the destruction to men and animals was quite incredible.'2
These pestilences appear to have prevailed in Ireland at the same time. ' Great and unusual wind. Preternatural (i.e. magical) sickness [tregait Fithnaisi, demoniacal colic), by demons, in the east of Ireland, which caused mortality (laquo;/--slaughter) of men plainly before men's eyes.' ' The commencement of the great murrain of cows [bo-ur mor)—the strange quot;maelgarbh,quot; which had never come before.'3 ' A pestilence {treghait-coWo) in the eastern parts of Ireland from demons, which caused a
1nbsp; nbsp;Functiiis. Chronicon.
2nbsp; Swieon Dundmen. De Gest. Reg. Angl. Scrip. Hist. Angl. (Twysden) p. 161. See also Joh. Brompton. Hist. Angl. p. 878. Henry de Knyghton. De Event. Angl., p. 2314.
3nbsp; Annals of the Four Masters.
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slaughter {ar) of people ; and thev used to be before the eves of the people visibly (in daylight). The beginning of the great mortality of oxen (bo-ar), that is^ the unknown quot; maelgarbh,quot; having come for the first time/ 1 This expression Dr O'Connor translates c scabies valde insolita.'
a.d. 992. A long and severe winter, and an extremely dry summer, followed by famine. The wheat crops were affected with blight or ergot, and the forage was generally of a bad quality. Soon aPter there was a widespread and deadly epidemy of ergotism {feu sacre) in France. In this year, in Germany, there was an extensive epizoöty of carbuncular fever in the lower animals.2
' A great mortality upon men {daine-hadli), cattle, and bees in Ireland this year.'3 Bees were largely kept in Ireland at this time, and were a great source of wealth to the people.
'After these great troubles, there followed within a year after such famine and scarcitie in South Wales, that many perished for want of food.' *
A.D. 994. 'A very rigorous winter, commencing on the nth November, and lasting till the nth May. Pestilential and cold winds blew, and heavy dews fell. Towards the middle of July there was a great frost, and so severe was the drought, that the fish died in many pools, and numbers of trees withered. The flax and corn perished. A terrible plague broke out amongst men, pigs, and sheep. In this year a grievous famine in many parts of Saxony.'5 In France ergotism [feu sacrd) was prevalent.
a.d. 995. A comet was seen this year in England. A deadly form of dysentery attacked man and beast, and proved most destructive.0 It was ' a worse year in Saxony than the former, for so great a pestilence, which was named Osterludi, raged amongst them, that not only their houses, but many of their
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towns, remained empty,
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1nbsp; nbsp;Annals of Tighernach.
2nbsp; Spangenberg. Op. cit. Fabrkius. Origines Saxon, p. 218. Wirth. Op. cit. p. 85.
3nbsp; Annals of Ulster.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 4 D. Pnvel. Hist, of Cambria. 5 Annales Quecllinlmrgens. Pertz, M. v. p. 72.
1 Short. Op. cit. p. 93.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; - ' Annal. Quedlin.
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notable year for its drought, many people and cattle dying of thirst.'1
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a.D. 1014. ' In the previous year there had been many precursory celestial signs, omens of stransre import, which were verified this year In Bohemia, where there was a fearful heat and drought. During the whole of the spring, and for nearly the whole summer, the weather was hotter than molten lava: the plains and the beautiful woods were scorched by the heat of the sun. The rivers were dried up, the springs were exhausted, the lakes and ponds were corrupted and putrescent, many people perished, as well as the greatest part of all kinds of animals. Especially did immense numbers offish die/ 2
a.d. 1015. In Ireland, 'a disease of the legs (Cos ghalar, probably scurvy) among the Danes, and a plague of rats (or mice, Lvcli) among the Danes and the Leinstermen.'3 The term Lnch is applied indiscriminately to rats or mice. The word ' Narraway' is still used by the Irish-speaking people for the modern brown rat, which, it is believed by naturalists, replaced the old Irish black rat. They were probably introduced by the Scandinavian vessels, then so numerous on the coasts of Ireland. The Chronicon Scotorum gives the year 1013, as the date of this occurrence. Mr Wenessey thinks that the irruption of rats should be translated a plague of putrefaction among the foreigners and Lagenenians.
a.d. 1016. In Ireland, 'great mortality of cattle on account of the excessive rains/ 4
a.d. 1022. A most unfortunate year, in which a great mortality prevailed amongst animals, and pestilence in mankind. Fruits and plants were destroyed,6 and in Spain there was an invasion of locusts.
a.d. 1028. ' In the present year an invasion of cicadas and caterpillars in Bohemia, following a very plentiful harvest. Innumerable swarms of butterflies also appeared, so that everything green in garden and field or in the woods was devoured. Dense and foul-smelling vapours had preceded this visitation.
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1 Annal. Sangall.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;- ffagekaxA Liboczan. Annal. Bohemor., v. p. 74.
3 Chronic. Scotorum.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 4 Annals of Innisfallen.
5 Mirac. Veroli. Presbyt. Acta Sancta. Bolland., p. 3S5.
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rising as they did about Easter, when the spring was coming in. After these insects had eaten everything up, they themselves increased the stench; the trees, also, stripped of their leaves, died and rotted. As a consequence, there was great mortality amongst men and animals, but especially in dogs, in the autumn.n England and Gaul, and indeed the whole of Europe, suffered in the same way, and from the same causes.
a.D. 1030. In the old translation of the Ulster Annals in the British Museum it is recorded—' Maelduin Mac Ciarmaic, (who had profaned the effigy of) the Lady Mary, of Kindred Binni of Glans, killed by the disease that killeth cattle, in Irish called Co/zac/i.' If this be a correct translation, which is disputed, it would be the earliest instance to be found in the Irish annals of mankind being affected by the diseases of animals. It is difficult to make out the disease, however, for the term Conacli has had its origin in the popular belief, not yet extinct, that horned cattle, if they eat the grass over which the Conacli or Co?inough Worm (the large fleshy caterpillar of the Sphinx Elephas moth) has passed, become afflicted with a fatal distemper characterized by madness, a sort of hydrophobia.2
a.d. 1035. A very severe winter, the summer extremely dry. 'This year there was an unheard-of loss amongst animals, and this, with the destruction of bees, afflicted the whole of Bavaria.' 3 The weather was so cold in England, in June, that all the corn and fruit was destroyed.
a.d. 1040. In Ireland, 'abundance of produce [mess mor: fructum alundantia) this year, and mortality of cattle and swine/4 This is the first epizoöty specially mentioned as affecting swine in Ireland.
a.d. 1041. Most unpropitious weather, accompanied by earthquakes, tempests, and inundations. It snowed heavily
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1nbsp;Hagek and Liboczan. Op. cit., vol. v. p. 152.
2nbsp;There is nothing at all astonishing in this relation of the Irish chief dying from some cattle malady, probably anthrax. Such cases must have been extremely frequent, if the ancient records are to be received as proof. Anthracoid erysipelas (oman or homan) may have been one of those forms of anthrax which afifected men and animals in this country.
3nbsp;J. Stainddii. Chronicle of CEfele. Scrip.quot; rer. Boic, vol. i. p. 472. * ^.nnals of Innisfallen.
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during harvest time; in many parts of Europe there were heavy rains throughout the year. Flanders was inundated by the sea, and there, were great storms. The consequences of these disturbances were famine and disease in England, Germany, and France. Cattle and men appear to have suffered equally. 'The plague of Divine Fire [ignis d'wina, ergotism or erysipelas) afflicted many, who were only saved through the merits of the blessed Virgin.'1 'And in all that year it was very sad in many and various things, both in tempests and in earth's fruits. And so much cattle perished in this year as no man before remembered, both through various diseases and through bad weather.'2 (Refer to 1044.)
a.d. 1044. An eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In Germany, ' Plague in cattle; the winter very severe, and heavy snows fell.'3 'There died at this time (1043), in this neighbourhood, many people, and there also reigned a special epizoöty amongst cattle.'4
For Ireland we read, 'Clonmacnoise was plundered by the people Conmhaicne (County Longford), whereupon God and Ciaran sent upon them the unknown distemper [Tamil anaithi-n'uili), which killed almost all their people and cattle.'6
A.D. 1046. ' And this same year after Candlemas (Feb. 2nd) came the severe winter with frost and snow, and with all kinds of heavy weather, so that there was no man alive who could remember so severe a winter as that was, both through mortality of men and murrain of cattle; both birds and fishes perished through the great cold and hunger.'c
a.d. 1047. On January ist there fell in the West of England a very great and deep snow, which broke down most woods. It lay till March ist. The ensuing summer had such tempests of thunder and lightning that the growing corn was burnt and blasted, and several towns the lightning reduced to ashes. There
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1nbsp; Chronic. St Bavonis. Corp. Chronic. Flandr., i. p. 385.
2nbsp; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;3 Chronic. Ursperg.
4nbsp;Spangenberg. Op. cit.
5nbsp; Chronic. Scotorum. See also, Annals of the Four Masters. Clonmacnoise.
6nbsp; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
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followed a great dearth, and death of people and cattle.1 On March ist there was an earthquake. The great mortality followed.
In Ireland it is mentioned : f Great snow this year from the festival of Mary in winter (8th Dec.) to the festival of Patrick (7th March), the like of which had not been known; with a destruction of men, cattle, and of the wild animals of the sea, and birds/ 2
a.D. 1048. An eruption of Vesuvius. In Germanv swarms of mice appeared. Earthquakes occurred in many parts of England and Scotland. ' And in this year was also an earthquake, on the Kal. of May (May ist) in many places, at Worcester, at Wick, and at Derby, and elsewhere; there was also a great mortality among men, and a murrain among cattle, and the wildfire {ignis aerius vulgo dictus sijlvuticus) also did much evil in Derbyshire and elsewhere.'3
A.D. 1054. Famine in Germany. Cedrenus4 writes: fA pestilential disease smote the country, so that the living had not strength to bear away the dead, and this great affliction was endured throughout the whole summer. Not only were many men destroyed by it, but also animals.'
England appears also to have suffered. ' And in this year was so great a murrain among the cattle as no man remembered for many winters [vintrum] before.'5
a.d. 1059. For Bavaria it is recorded : ' In this year there was an abundant harvest of corn and grapes, but a direful plague smote man and beast throughout the whole province.'6
A.n. io5o. In Ireland ' a great storm in the autimin of this year, and very great destruction of crops. In this year foxes were taken among the herds, and in such numbers as the people chose, on account of the great number of dead carcases.' 7
a.d. 1078. 'Snow and great frost, so that the principal rivers and lakes in Ireland were passable dry-shod. Great mor-
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1 Ranulf. Hilgd.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;- Annals of Ulster.
3 Simeon Dundmeit. Op. cit , p. 1S3. 4 Cedrenus. Hist. Comp., ii. p. 609. 5 Saxon Chronic.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;'' Stainddä. Chronic. CEfele Scrip. Boic, i. p. 477.
7 Annals of Innisfallen.
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tality of cattle in this year (ar mor fors na-cearthra). Great mortality among the people [mortlaid mor) of Ireland, and the cattle, which carried off a great number of men. Great store of the fruits of the earth this year.'1
A.D. 1084. In Ireland pestilence in mankind, possibly typhus fever, began, and continued for thirteen years. It was believed to be caused by demons (the demons of pestilence). ' This is the best year that came for its fertility in fruits and crops. Great mortality amongst cattle in this year, in the southern half of Ireland, called the half of Mogha (Munster).'2
a.D. 1085. Epidemic erysipelas (ergotism?) in France, with inundations and famine. ' In the year 1085 there was disease in plants and also in animals throughout the world.'3
In England, intemperate weather and a great death of cattle.4
In Ireland, • there was destruction of men and cattle in this year to such an extent that rich men were made husbandmen in it.'6
A.D. 1086. ' There was a very severe season, and a swinkful and sorrowful year in England, in murrain of cattle, and corn and fruits were at a standstill, and so much untowardness in the weather, as a man may not easily think. So tremendous was the thunder and lightning, that it killed many men.8
Hemingsford says that sheep as well as cattle suffered from the great intemperature of the air.7 Several other old chroniclers speak of this unfortunate season.8
a.D. 1087. The misfortunes of England were continued in the form of famine and disease.9 Rain fell incessantly, the crops were destroyed, and great multitudes of people and animals perished. ' About this season, the people in all places were
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1 Annals of Innisfallen.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;2 Ibid.
3nbsp; Köiiigshofcn. Elsassiche und Strasburgische Chronic.
4nbsp; Chronic. Saxon. Stoxv. Annals.
5nbsp; Annals of the Four Masters.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;6 Chronic. Saxon.
7nbsp; nbsp;Walt. Hemingsford. Chronic. Gale, ii. p. 461.
8nbsp; H. de Khyghton. De Event. Angl. Twysden, p. 2353. Annal. Waverleiens. Gale, ii. p. 133. Will. Malmesbury. De Gest. Reg. Angl. p. 62. Crnflon. Chronic, p. 16.
9nbsp; Annal. Waverleiens.
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pitifully plagued with burning fevers, which brought many to their end; a murrain also came to their cattle, whereof a wonderful number died. At the same time (which is more marvellous) tame fowls, such as hens, geese, and peacocks, forsaking their owners' houses, fled to the woods, and became wild. Great hurt was done in many places of the realm by fire.'1 In Ireland, 'great abundance of nuts and fruit. Murrain of cows and dearth in this year, and a great wind which destroyed houses and churches.'2
a.d. 1088. In Ireland, 'great snow in this year, and great mortality of oxen, and sheep, and pigs in the same year.' 3
a.d. 1089-91. On the Continent, 'in these years many men were killed by the ignis sacer (ergotism or gangrenous erysipelas), which destroyed their vitals, putrefied their flesh, and blackened their limbs like to charcoal. Even if their lives were preserved, their extremities were so affected, that they were only reserved for a most pitiable existence.'4 This epidemy is mentioned by several ancient chroniclers. Animals suffered as well as the human species.
a.d. 1091. Great floods at Constantinople which drowned thousands of people and cattle. Immense swarms of locusts arrived, whose masses, when in flight, darkened the sun. From their putrefaction next year arose a most desolating plague in man and beast.5
a.d. 1092-4. ' In 1092 there was a great mortality in men and cattle in all countries, which lasted for three, and in some places for four, years.'0 This disease in men and animals prevailed in Germany, France, Italy, and England, and lasted until 1094 ;7 indeed, calamities of this description appear to have prevailed almost incessantly since 1087. 'Ex quo namque furoris sui rabiem vesana multitudo in principem religiosum evomuit, agri fructibus steriles, prata herbis attenuantur, silva glandibus
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1nbsp; Holinshed. Chronicles of England.
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2nbsp; Annals of the Four Masters.
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3 Annals of Innisfallen.
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4nbsp; Chronic. St Bavon. Corp. Chronic. Flandrte.
5nbsp; Polydorus, Zonarius, and Crantzius.
6nbsp; Spangenberg. Op. cit., 228.
7nbsp; Hofmanni. Annal. Bamberg. Ludwig. Scrip, rer. Bamberg, p. Agricola. De Feste. Briet. Annal. Mund. Fabricius. Origin. Saxon., p. 218.
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rara, unda pispibus infoecunda permansit, pestls armenta consu-mit, homines morbus debilitatj fames aggravate'
A.D. 1098. ' On the filth day before the calends of October, in many parts of France, the heavens seemed on fire by night, and this appearance was followed by a dreadful pestilence to cattle, and destruction to crops through the heavy rains which foliowed.'2 In Syria, during the siege of Antioch, 'there was great destruction to cattle from drought.'3 'Horses, asses, camels, oxen, and many other animals died/4 In Saxony,. ' the heavens appeared on fire, then followed a great death of
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cattle [viehsterl'e/difgiid the fruits of the fields were nearly all de-
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stroyed.' 6
A.D. 1099. Gangrenous erysipelas (ergotism ?) in France in the human species.6 From the severity of the epidemy, we mav infer that animals also suffered. There were great inundations in England by the sea and the rivers, whereby people, cattle, and whole towns were drowned.7
A.D. 1103. Very unhealthy seasons. 'This was a very destructive year in this land (England), through manifold taxes, and through cattle disease {cvealm),s and scant produce both of corn and of fruit of all kinds.'0 An epidemy in the human species followed.10
a.d. 1109. 'Mice eat up all the corn-fields in certain territories in Ireland.' quot; ' A great cow-mortality.'12
A.D. mo. 'A very great mortality amongst cattle in Enlt;r-land.'13nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; !
1nbsp; Ailiioihi. Hist. S. Canuti Reg. Langalek. Scrip, rer. Dan., iii. p. 375.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;gt; See also Saxo Grammaticns, p. 222.
2nbsp; Siegebert Gemblac. Chronog. Pistor. Scrip, rer. Germ., i. p. 852.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;1
3nbsp; nbsp;Wil. Tyrens. Lib. iv. cap. 17. Lib. viii. cap. 17.
4nbsp; Alb. Aqitens. Hist. Hieros., Lib. iii. cap. I, 2.
5nbsp; Dresserns. Sachs. Chronic, p. 192.
6nbsp; Chronic. Ursperg. Edit. Mylius, pp. 177, 180.
7nbsp; nbsp;Short. Op. cit., p. 105.
8nbsp; The Saxon word cvealm, or 'qualm,' is that used in these Chronicles to signify plague or pest. The Saxon tnicel cvealm has its analogue in the Scotch 'sair trouble,' severe illness or misfortune.
9nbsp; nbsp;Gibson. Saxon Chronicles, p. 211.
10nbsp; Papon. Chronol. de la Peste, vol. ii. p. 270.
11nbsp; The Annals of the Four Masters.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;12 Chronicon Scotorum. 13 Matthew cf Paris, p. 62.
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A.D. II11. According to Holinshed, a dreadful plague visited London^ which not only caused a terrible mortality amongst its citizens, but extended itself to cattle, fowls, and other domesticated animals. ' About the same time many wonders were seen and heard of. The river of Trent, near to Nottingham, for the space of a mile, ceased to run the wonted course during the time of four-and-twenty hours, so that, the channel being dried up, men might pass to and fro dry-shod. Also a sow brought forth a pio- with a face like a man, and a chicken was hatched with four feet. Moreover, a comet or blazing star appeared in a strange sort, for rising in the east, when it once came aloft in the firmament, it kept not the course forward, but seemed to go backward, as if it had been retrograde.'1 ' In this year there was a very severe winter; the people died in great numbers; the loss of cattle was great; all domestic animals suffered. Birds were destroyed in great numbers.'2 In Ireland, 'extreme ill weather of frost and snow, which made slaughter of tame and wild beasts.'3
A.D. 1112. In England, ' this yeare was a great mortalitie of men, and morein (murrain) of beasts '4
a.D. 1113. In Ireland, 'a great mortality of cows. O'Lon-gan, Erenach of Ardpatrick, was killed by lightning on Cruagh Patrick.'6
a.D. 1115. ' In this year (in Enlt;rland) there was so hard a winter, with snow and with frost, that no man living ever remembers a harder, and through it there was a great cattle plague.'6 Cattle, birds, and people also perished in Ireland.7
a.d. 1124. 'There was on the third of August an eclipse of the sun, which was followed by a great pestilence amongst oxen, sheep, pigs, and bees. Even the crops failed.; 8 The winter was so severe that fishes in ponds, and even eels, were killed. After this there was a severe famine in England, and destruction of men and cattle.
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1nbsp; Holinshed. Chronicles. Saxon. Chronic, p. 217.
2nbsp; Simeon Duncbn. De Gest. Reg. Angl. Twysden. Scrip, p. 234.
3nbsp; Annals of Ulster.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 4 Stow. Chronicles of England. 5 Chronic. Scotorum.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 6 Chronic. Saxon., p. 219.
7nbsp; nbsp;Annals of the Four Masters. Chronic. Scot. Annals of Boyle, ic.
8nbsp; nbsp;Cosmae. Prag. Chronic, book iii.
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a.d. 1125. Severe weather. Pestilence in men and cattle throughout nearly the whole of Europe, with famine. In England, f in this same year were such great floods on St Lawrence's mass day, that many towns and men were drowned, and bridges broken down, and corn and meadows spoilt withal, so that there was famine and plague amongst men and on beasts, and in all fruits so great untimeliness as had not been for many years before.'1
A.D. 11 27. The ' divine plague '(ergotism ?) appeared in mankind in France. Prayers to the Virgin Mary healed the afflicted, it is recorded. Great pestilence amongst animals.2
a.d. 1129. Heavy snow and rain in January. Great inundations. Plague in oxen, cows, pigs, bears, stags, and goats. The ignis divinis in man over a large portion of Europe.3 For Ireland it is recorded: 'A quot;maelgarbhquot; (murrain) in this year which killed the cows of Erinn, and its pigs, except a very few.' And for 1130: 'The same destruction (distemper) as in the previous year, on the cattle of Lethchuinn.' 4
a.d. 1131. Mortality amongst the domestic animals over the whole of England, which continued for some years, so that there was scarcely a farm which was free from the plague. The pigsties were emptied, and the stalls of oxen were deserted.5 William of Malmesbury says: ' In the 3Tst year of King Henry a dreadful murrain among domestic animals extended over the whole of England. Entire herds of swine suddenly perished; whole stalls of oxen were swept away in a moment; the same contagion continued in the following years, so that no village throughout the kingdom was free from this calamity, or able to exult at the loss of its neighbours.' Another historian says : ' This year there was so great a cattle plague as never before was in man's memory, over all England. It affected oxen and swine as well, so that in a town where there were usually ten or twelve ploughs at work, there was now not one left, and the man who owned two or three hundred swine, often lost them all.
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1nbsp; nbsp;Saxon Chronicle, p. 229.
2nbsp; Si Bavonis. Chronicle.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 3 Anselm Gemhlac.
4nbsp; Chronicon Scotorum. Edit. 1867.
5nbsp; Annals de Margan. Gale. Scrip., ii. p. 6.
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At this time also died the hen fowls {kenne fugeles), and now grew scant the flesh meat, the cheese, and the butter/'
A.D. 1133. 'A destruction of cows [lodhiohhadh) came into all Ireland, the like of which was not known since the former destruction of cows in the time of Flaithbheartach, son of Loingsech, and there were 433 years between them.'2
'A maelgarhh this year, which killed the cows and swine of Erinn, excepting a trifle/ 3
a.D. 1134. 'The same cow-mortality still devastates Ireland.'4 In France, the air was so intemperate that birds fell dead. Flanders and the neighbouring countries were inundated by the sea during this and the next year, so that great loss in human life and in cattle was sustained.'5
A.D. 1142-3. Tempestuous weather in England, which induced a desolating famine that lasted for twelve years. At this time immense swarms of what were called small flying worms, which darkened the sun, appeared. These ate everything up. From a lad air a sore plague arose on man and beast.6
a.D. 1149. A snowy and severe winter, on which account the grain was destroyed in the fields by snow. An epizoöty in Belgium. ' In our land, by some death-bringing contagion or pestilence, sheep, oxen, and all kinds of cattle were hurried away by death. Wherefore I have devoted one-fourth of my herd of cattle to the blessed Gerlacus.'7 In Germany, a great mortality among cattle, which in the pastures and sheds suddenly fell and died.8
a.D. i 151. 'Inundations and heavy rains, followed by a most grievous pestilence among men and cattle. Failure of the crops, and consequent famine of a dreadful kind.'9 From this time till 1169, there were severe winters and dry summers, and famine and pestilence swept the world, but especially did Scot-
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1nbsp; Chronic. Saxon. Barnes. Hist. Edward III. Eulogium Historianim.
-nbsp; Annals of Kilroonan.
3nbsp; Chronic. Scotorum. Sec also the Annals of the Four Masters.
*nbsp; Annals of Kilroonan.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;5 T. Short. Op. cit., vol. i. p. 117.
6nbsp; nbsp;T. Short. Op. cit., vol. i. p. 119.
7nbsp; Acta Sanctor. Bolland, Jan. 2, p. 318.
8nbsp; Spangenbcrg. Op. cit., 258.
9nbsp; Chronogr. Saxo. Leibnitz. Access. Hist., vol. i. p. 304.
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land, Ireland, Italy, Gaul, Sicily, Judea, Asia, and Africa suffer.
a.D. 1154. 'There was a great destruction of the cattle [indililh—cattle in general) of Ireland this year. The second Henry was made king over the Saxons on the 27th of October.'l a.D. 1162. Great tempests. The sea inundated Friesland to an extent never before known, drowning thousands of people and cattle. At the same time hail made fearful havoc among men, beasts, trees, and horses. There was a famine in Poland. In Mediolana fell twelve great snows, which greatly afflicted both animals and vegetables. In June it rained blood. Famine and plague in Aquitania.2
a.d. 1166. In Saxony, 'heavy storms of thunder and lightning, and inundations about harvest time. Plague and mortality in children and beasts of burthen.'3
A.D. 1171. Inundations destroyed the crops in many places. Quadragesima suffered most severely. Disease in cattle, sheep, and men throughout Germany. Every place was filled with the dead bodies of men and cattle.4 On December 25th, terrible thunder and hail in England, which killed birds, beasts, and people, in England, Scotland, Ireland, and France.'5
A.D. 1172. The English king, with his army, returning to England, brought with them dysentery, caused, it was said, by eating too much fresh fish and flesh. This disease spread over the whole of England. It was, however, prevalent in other parts of the world.0 The Spanish chronicles say: 'There was a great famine over the whole earth, such as had never been seen since the creation. It was greatly deplored by all men, for there was constant death throughout the world both in man and beast.'7
a.d. 1173-4. To veterinary surgeons it may be interesting to know that at this period history affords us the first intimation of 'influenza' in the human species. 'This year the whole
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1nbsp; Annals of the Four Masters.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 Chronic. Magdeburg.
3nbsp; Chronogr. Saxo. Leibnitz. Access. Hist., vol. i. p. 308.
4nbsp; Chronic. Magdeburg. Hoffman. Annal. Bamberg.
5nbsp; nbsp;T. Short. Op. cit., p. 124.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;c Ibid. 'nbsp; Chronic. Conimbric. Espana Sagrada, vol. xxiii. p. 334.
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world was afflicted with a cloudy corrupt air, which occasioned a most universal cough and catarrh fatal to many/ 1
a.D. 1176. There was a great inundation of the sea in Holland, and in Lincolnshire, which drowned much cattle and many people. A storm of blood-rain fell over the Isle of Wight for two hours.2
a.d. 1178. A blood shower in England. A comet was seen; and the next day, on the west, a few hours after, a shower of great hail killed men, sheep, and goats.3 ' To the 5th July, J78, the weather was moderate. Rains then came on until January, which prevented agricultural operations. In September there was an eclipse. In the following spring very hard weather. Forage was excessively dear, and, as a consequence, there was very great loss among sheep and cattle.'4
a.d. 1187. Great floods and inundations in Britain.5 There was a grievous and pestilent mortality of men and cattle in England.6 An unusual conjunction of planets in Libra, and the people being then addicted to astrology, got frightened, and a fast was ordered by the Archbishop of Canterbury.7
a.d. 1188. In England, 'there was a dreadful tempest of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, and hail fell in masses as larfe as pigeons' escecs. The sea overflowed its banks to a srreat height, and killed much people and cattle/ 8
a.d. 1200. f About this time (in Portugal, from 1185 to 1211) a disease never before seen sprang up. The viscera of mankind were disturbed as if by some raging heat, which caused ravine as if of madness. A famine arose from the destruction of corn by tempests and vermin, and a plague not less destructive to cattle than to man appeared, so that the stables of many were left empty.'9
A.D. 1201. In England f the spring had glutting and con-
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1 T. Short. Op. cit., vol. i. p. 125. Chronogr. Saxo. p. 310. Ymagines. Hist. Twysden. P. 579.
* Speed. History of the Isle of Wight.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; * T.Short. Op. cit., p. 126.
4nbsp; Anselm. Gemblac. Chronic. Piston Scrip., vol. i. p. 9S6.
5nbsp; Chronic. Saxon.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;6 Benedict Abbas.
7nbsp; forster. Atmospherical Origin of Disease, p. 147.
8nbsp; nbsp;T.Short. Op. cit, p. 129.
9nbsp; De Vera Reg. Portugal. Hispania Illustrata, vol. ii. p. 1257.
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tinual rains and very great floods. On June the 25th and July the 10th were great tempests of thunder, lightning, hail as big as eggSj and prodigious rainSj destroying corn, cattle, people, meadows, Sec. The rains continued from Pentecost to Nativity of the blessed Virgin, which not only hindered corn and fruits from ripening, but rendered them mostly useless and unprofitable. A great dearth of animals followed, but chiefly of sheep.'' Possibly from dropsy or 'rot.' For the previous five years, the ignis sacer had been widely prevalent on the continent and in England, in mankind, coincidently with rust of plants and famine.
A.D. 1302. 'This winter (after the great summer rains of 1201) was severe beyond any in the memory of man for extreme cold and long continuance. After the frosts follow ed'the like tempests of thunder, lightning, rain, and hail as big as hens' eggs, destroying corn, fruit, young cattle and horses, amp;c.'2nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 1
A.D. 1207. In Ireland 'a great destruction [dlth] of men and cattle this year.'3
A.D. 1213. Gangrenous erysipelas {feu sacra) in mankind in France and Spain. 'Neither was the scarcity limited to the fruits
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of the earth, nor disease to the human species; for birds, cattle, and sheep became sterile and brought forth no young, and
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barley.'4
A.D. 1217. The drought was so great as to ruin the harvestsnbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; V
in Spain, and to burn up all the pasture. There was consequently a famine, with pestilential disease in men and cattle.5 In Italy there raged a fearful plague in the human species, which left scarcely a tenth part of the inhabitants alive.
A.D. 1221. This year were continual great rains all the summer in Poland ; hence such great floods, that many villages were swept down, the winter corn was lost, and there was no sowing in the spring; a sharp horrid cold winter followed, then camenbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;l'
three years' famine and plague, whereof died myriads of people and cattle.'6
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1 T. Short. Op. cit., p. 133.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 Ibid.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 3 Annals of Ulster.
4nbsp; nbsp;Villalba. Epidemiologia Espanola, vol. i. p. 54'
5nbsp; Zurita. Vol. i. p. 108. Villalba. Vol. i. p. 5quot;.
6nbsp; Chronic. Magdeburg.
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a.D. 1233-25. From the beginning of this century till 1241^ the Mongol invasions from Asia, through Russia, to Silesia, took place, and it has been correctly conjectured, 1 think, that these irruptions were the cause of many epizootics being introduced into the western hemisphere. These maladies, especially those occurring in 1223, 1333, and 1238, are supposed to have been the Cattle Plague, or ' Rinderpest/ 1323. In this year there was a very great epizoöty of cattle, which seems to have begun in the east, and to have spread, by way of Hungary and Austria, into Italy, Germany, France, and England.1 ' In the year 1223, there was a great mortality among cattle, but grain crops were not affected. It lasted three whole years, and the greater portion of the cattle died.'2 ' A great death of sheep in England/ 3
a.D. 1224. In Ireland, anthrax appears to have been very fatal. ' An awfully great and frightful shower fell in parts of Connaught this year, i. e. the Hy-Maney, and in Sedan, and in Hy-Diarmada, and in Clannteige, from which grew a very great mortal distemper [Teidhm galair) to the cows and cattle of the aforesaid territories, after eating of the grass and herbage, and in the people who partook of their milk or flesh it produced various belly (or middle) sicknesses.'4 ' Their milk and flesh produced various distempers in the people that partook of them. A great mortality of people in this year.'5 A great war raged in Connaught this year,'and after the slaughter and destruction of the cattle, and the people of the country, and after driving them out to cold and hunger, a severe and mortal disease grew up in the whole country, namely, a species of Teasca (probably typhus), through which towns were emptied without leaving a single person in them ; some recovered, but they were few.'quot;
a.D. 1233. Thunder and lightning for thirteen days in England, with heavy rains. All the vegetation was destroyed, and as a consequence famine and disease prevailed.
' In this year so terrible a cattle plague broke out, commencing in Hungary, and spreading into this and more distant lands.
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1 Conrad. Coenobit. Schyreus. Tritium.
- Kötiigs/io/en. Els. Chron. p. 302.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;3 T. Short. Op. cit., vol. i. p. 139.
* Annals of Connaught.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;5 Annals of Kilroonan.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; c Ibid.
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that nearly all the cattle died, and one scarcely knew where to obtain more.'1
A.D. 1234. Aventinus speaks of a great epizooty 'magiia pes-fis pecudum) amons; cattle in this year.2 Probably it was a continuation of that mentioned for last year.
a.D. 1235. 'Tristan Calcho, the historian, informs us that a pest broke out among quadrupeds, and was destructive to nearly every beast of burden. Amongst birds it was particularly destructive to domestic fowls/ 3nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;•nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;gt;nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; I
a.D. 1238. 'A severe and dreadful winter. . . . Afterwards a plague broke out among birds, and chiefly amongst fowls. Oxen and many other useful beasts suffered greatly.'4
a.D. 1240. Disease (?) attacked the fish on the coast of England, and pestilence raged in various parts of the country. Short writes :—' For about four months together, it scarcely ever ceased raining, but about Easter it began to take up, turn clear and fair. Then three months' drought caused great famine to follow. In February appeared a comet which continued for thirty days. Sore and heavy diseases on man and beast. There was also a great battle among the fishes on the English coast, by which eleven whales and multitudes of other large monstrous fishes were cast on the shore dead.'5 The battle amongst the fishes was an ignorant way, no doubt, of accounting for the mortality amongst these denizens of the deep.
In this year, accordinsr to the Archives of the Aaricultural Society of Southern Russia, the Cattle Plague appeared in Hungary, and spread throughout nearly the whole of Europe.
A.D. 1248. ' A plague and great famine in Britain and Ireland.' 0
a.d. 1249. Inundations were so frequent in Friesland that agricultural operations were greatly retarded. Famine ensued, and a disease broke out amongst cattle which nearly destroyed them all. Mankind afterwards suffered from pestilence. This state of affairs continued throughout the next year, and it was
1 IValser. Appenzeller Chronik, p. 154.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; - Annal. Boj., p. 637.
3nbsp; Miscellan. Medic. Curios. Col. Agripp. 1677, p. 41.
4nbsp; Roland. Hist. Muratori. Govern, delle Feste, p. 6.
5nbsp; nbsp;T. Short. Op. cit., vol. i. p. 143.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;6 Annales Cambrise.
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so aggravated by the excessive heat of the summer that fears were entertained it would rival the Athenian plague itself.1
In Frissingen there was such a plague of mice, that corn, hay, and all vegetation was eaten up.2
a.D. I251- A. most intolerably hot summer. Famine in Italy and epidemic disease in England.
' Thunder and lightning came in the summer of this year, which killed many men and cattle in Ireland.'3
a.D. 1252. Great epizoöty of anthrax fever in England. c The summer was very hot and dry throughout England, and from Easter to autumn no rain fell, neither did dew in any way supply the deficiency, so that the surface of the ground was never even moist, whence it happened that grass scarcely grew at all, and by reason of this a severe famine ensued, and a great mortality among men and cattle.'4 c In the same year, for the greatest part of March, and the whole of the months of April and May, a burning sun prevailed, and northerly winds continued. The dryness of the weather continued and the dews ceased, so that apples and other fruits, which were now beginning to ripen, withered and fell from the trees, and there was scarcely any fruit, although the spring blossoms gave great promise. Of what remained an unseasonable morning hoar frost, which philosophers call uredo, blighted the young apples, and all kinds of fruit and herbs, so that scarcely a tenth part remained. Nevertheless, through the original abundance, had all the apples arrived at maturity, the trees could not have supported them. When the sun had attained its meridian, it was so intensely hot and intolerable, that the surface of the ground was thoroughly parched, so that all the grass being burnt up, food was denied to cattle and sheep. At night the excessive heat produced flies and other hurtful parasites, by which the life of all animals was rendered wearisome. This is from ocular testimony.....
' In the course of the same year, after the excessive heat of the summer, and at the approach of autumn, a plague-like mortality broke out amongst the cattle in many places in England,
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1nbsp; nbsp;Ubbon. Emmii Rer. Fries. Hist. 1516.
2nbsp; Chronic. Magdeburg.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; ' 3 Annals of Connaught. 4 Thomas Wilkes. A Chronicle of English Affairs.
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bat especially in Norfolk, the marshes, and in the southern districts, than could ever be remembered, in which pestilence this remarkable fact was observed : all the dogs and crows which fed on the bodies of the dead cattle immediately became infected, grew intensely swollen, and died on the spot. On this account, nobody dared to eat beef of any kind, for fear of being poisoned by this disease. Another remarkable circumstance noticed amongst the cattle : the cows and full-grown bullocks sucked the teats of the milch cows like calves. There is another fact worthy of mention at this time, namely, that at the period when the pears and apples would be fully ripe, the trees were observed to blossom, as if in the month of April. The excessive mortality amongst the cattle and the unseasonable blossoming, together with the unnatural desire of the young cattle, were evidently caused by the heat and dryness of the weather. And this is also to be wondered at, the grass in the meadows was so rotten, hard and dry, during the months of May, June, and July, that if it were rubbed in one's hands it immediately crumbled into dust. When, therefore, the equinoctial season brought rain in abundance to the dried ground, the earth, on account of the sudden opening of its pores, was prodigal of its richness, wherefore it produced grass in large quantity, but of an inferior and unnatural quality. The famished and hungry cattle seized upon this with such avidity, and became so distended with sudden fatness, that they made useless flesh (or flesh useless as food), and this gave rise to inordinate humours. Finally they went mad, and frisked about in an unusual manner, until, becoming suddenly infected with the disease, they fell dead ; and the contagion from them, owing to the virulence of the disease, infected others as well. A similar cause can also be assigned for the trees blossoming out of season.' • At the same time a diseasenbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; \ ^t
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1 Matthew of Paris. Op. cit., pp. 806—820. This year affords us some well-marked examples of that particular disease termed anthrax, anthrax fever, car-buncular erysipelas, or splenic apoplexy, and which in its more malignant forms is now somewhat rare in England, though on the continent and in many parts of the world it prevails very extensively and severely, especially during the summer season. In this country it is commonly known as ' black quarter,' ' quarter ill,' the ' blain' (glossanthrax), amp;c. It is perhaps the most general disease of animals—attacking quadrupeds, bipeds, fowls, and fishes. It especially attacks all
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appeared in horses, in England and France, of a most fatal character, called the c evil of the tongue/ or tongue ill,1 which was in all probability of an anthracoid nature.
' This year was remarkable in Ireland for a great drought, by which multitudes of cattle perished.'2
This anthrax or carbouous disease has been considered by some modern medical authorities quite a recent and an exotic malady in England. How far this is correct the above evidence will testify; indeed, we have every reason to believe, that, from time immemorial, anthrax and anthracoid fever have been present among the lower animals, both domestic and feral, and that it has been communicated from them to the human species, and to other creatures which may have partaken of the flesh of these diseased beasts. The frequent mention of 'Wains' and 'black blains' (blejene, blacan blejene)—terms still employed to designate a particular form of this class of affections in cattle—as afflicting mankind, in the early Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, and the continually-
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the domestic animals, and even those of the deer tribe, appearing sporadically, enzoötically, or epizoötically. It is believed to be highly contagious, passing from one animal to another, even of a different species, but not perhaps from man to man. In the early days of Britain, when the country was badly cultivated and the ground undrained—when there were many extensive marshes, and much land covered with swamps and vegetable matter in a decomposing state, such as now exist in Russia, where malignant pustule and other forms of tliis malady rage—severe epizootics must have been frequent. The form of anthrax described by Matthew of Paris would appear to be that now commonly known as black quarter or splenic apoplexy, a disease in cattle often arising in our time from the same causes as those enumerated by the worthy historian.
That form which attacked horses is the one technically termed glossanthrax, and is now, so far as I am aware, unknown in Britain. Indeed, I can find no mention of its occurrence in this animal for some centuries. On the continent, and especially in Russia, the equine species is particularly liable to attacks of anthrax. The symptoms, when the tongue is the special seat of disease, have been noted in France, where the malady is then termed chancre volant. Large bladders filled with a reddish-coloured liquid form on that organ ; in a short time they burst, and give rise to ulcers which rapidly become a mass of gangrene. The tongue sloughs away in pieces, and death quickly takes place in the midst of convulsions.
Cattle die in from six to twenty-four hours after being attacked. It is curious to find a disease, probably of the same nature, now very prevalent in America amongst deer, and designated ' tongue evil.'
1nbsp; Dunstafle. Short. Op. cit., p. 149.
2nbsp; Smith. History of Waterford.
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recurring reme.dies prescribed in the Saxon leechdoms,1 would indicate such to be the case. And when we consider the backward state of agriculture, and the unsanitary conditions in which animals were maintained at this period, we can scarcely wonder that wide-spread outbreaks of this fatal and virulent disorder were by no means rare, or that they should be accompanied or followed by malignant pustule or anthrax fever in man.
The laws enacted during the reign of Henry III., at the commencement of this century, appear to have been judiciously framed, at least in so far as the public health in regard to food was concerned; and thev also give us some idea of the principal maladies affecting animals then sold for their flesh. From them we are led to infer that anthrax was not at all rare, and that pork was, as it now is, looked upon with suspicion. Butchers were forbidden to sell contagious flesh, or that had died of the murrain [carnes-suscientas vel morte inorina) #9632; to buy flesh of Jews, and then sell it to Christians; or to sell flesh f measled' or flesh dead of the ' murrain ' {porcinas supsennuates, lit carries de morbid)?
Mr Rogers' researches into the state of agriculture at this period lead him to the following conclusions with regard to pigs: ' Pigs are occasionally said to be leprous, and were especially liable to measles, that is, to entozoa, and the accounts frequently allude to forced sales of animals, in which the latter disease was present or suspected, though it does not appear that such a circumstance seriously depreciated the market value of the animal.'3
A.D. 1253. ' This year throughout was abundant in corn and fruit; so much so, that the price of a measure of corn fell to thirty pence. But . . . the sea overflowing its bounds, by its sudden inundations, overwhelmed men and cattle, and when it happened by night it drowned many the more.' 4
A.D. 1254. A very severe winter in England. 'Also there
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1nbsp; For the remedies and incantations in use to cure this disease in people during the Middle Ages in England, see Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early-England. London, 1864-5-6.
2nbsp; Statutes of the Realm, vol. i.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 3 Hist. Agric, vol. i. p. 337. 4 Matthew of Paris. Op. cit.
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chanced the same year a great murrain, and death of sheep and deer, so that of whole flocks and herds scarce the half escaped.'1 ' On that same day (St Gregory's), too, the severity of the frost gave way, which has lasted uninterruptedly for nearly the whole winter; at least, ever since the night of circumcision, when there was seen the wonderful apparition of the ship in the sky, or a cloud very like a ship. The apparition was believed, at the time, to be a sign of coming tempestuous weather, and was, moreover, followed by such a deadly disease amongst sheep and wild beasts, that the sheep-folds were void of sheep, and the forests of wild beasts; indeed, in large flocks scarcely one half survived.'2
A.D. 1257. ' In July were excessive rains and floods, and a great scarcity of horses and cattle in England. All the marshes were like a flooded desert.'3
a.d. 1258. 'In this same year, the calm temperature of autumn lasted to the end of Januar}', so that the surface of the water was not frozen in any place during that time. But from about this period, that is to say, from the purification of the blessed Virgin until the end of March, the north wind blew without intermission, a continued frost prevailed, accompanied by snow and such unendurable cold, that it bound up the face of the earth, sorely afflicted the poor, suspended all cultivation, and killed the young of the cattle to such an extent, that it seemed as if a general plague was raging amongst the sheep and lambs.'4 • On the eve of St John the Baptist (June 23rd) this year, such a violent tempest of rain fell on the waters of the Severn from Shrewsbury towards Bristol, as had not been seen in our days.'5
a.d. 1259. 'In this year was a great hunger, that men and beasts died for default of meat.'c
a.d. 1260. A great inundation on the Rhine, fatal to multitudes of people and cattle.7
a.d. 1264. A comet was seen from the beginning of August until the middle of October. Its appearance in Germany was
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1nbsp; liolinshed. Op. cit.
2nbsp; Mattheio of I'aris. Op. cit. 4 Maltheu) 0/Paris. Op. cit.
c Capgnaie.l Chronicles of England.
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followed by agreat famine, effusion of blood, and death among
animals. The famine was so great that many families emigrated
into Poland. The mortality among animals was such that nonbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 1*
one dared to eat or buy the flesh of oxen.1 Sheep and cattle
were most affected.2 A murrain destroyed many horses and
cattle in England.3
A.D. 1266. Swarms of 'Palmer'' worms ate up a!l fruits, herbs, grass, and vegetation in Scotland, and there were such great floods from the sea, the Tay, and the Forth, that innumerable villages, people, and cattle were lost.4
A.D. 1274. The Annals tell us that a deadly disease {lues ovium)5 broke out amongst sheep, which persisted for twenty-five or twenty-eight years, and destroyed nearly all the flocks in England. This epizoöty will be more fully noticed in subse-quent years.
A.D. 1275-6. ' Very heavy rains in France for these two years; so much so, that the crops could not be gathered, nor the corn sown. A dreadful famine, followed by a still more dreadful pestilence, ensued, by which a great number of men and cattle were destroyed.'6 'Great earthquakes in London, and in the whole world. At the same time the rain fell a bright red, as of blood, in Wales. In this year (1275) was first observed the outbreak of common scab (scabies) in sheep.7 Stow, following Thomas of Walsingham, has the following notice of this event for this year: ' A rich man of France brought into Northumberland a Spanish ewe as big as a calf of two years, which ewe being rotten, infected so the country that it spread over all the realm. This plague of murrain continued twenty-eight years ere it ended, and was the first roi that ever was in England.'8 If this be correct, merinos were then first introduced into Britain.
1 Chronic. Siles. Vetnst. Sommersberg, p. 17. Annal. Wratisl. Sommersberg,
P- 173-
- Henel. ab Hennefeld. Annal. Siles. Sommersberg.
3 T. Short. Op. cit., p. 152.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;laquo; Ibid. p. 153.
5 Thomce Walsingham. Historia Anglicana.
G Hofmanni. Annal. Bamberg. Ludewig. Scrip, rer. Bamberg, p. 176.
1 Hemy de Knyghton. The Events of England.
8 Stow. The Annales or Generall Chronicle of England. London, 1614, p. 200.
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a.D. 1277. ' In this year scab in sheep reigned throughout the whole of England. It was commonly termed quot; clausick/' and by it all the sheep in the country were infected. A certain ointment composed of quicksilver and pork fat was found to be a good remedy/ 2
This epizoöty among sheep deserves most particular notice for the following reasons. Stow plainly mentions it as an imported disease, and terms it rot. Other authors term it scabies, and one mentions what would no doubt have been a very effective remedy for that affection—lard and mercury. Now, the rot of the present day is not contagious or infectious; therefore the Spanish sheep could not have contaminated others. The ' scab' certainly is contagious, but Stow, one would think, would not have designated the malady as rot when the other term was commonly used. Therefore I think it is most probable that two contagious diseases were introduced into England in these years:— the one scabies, and the other ovine small-pox. The most diligent search through the most likely Annals of these and the
1 This is the first time I find the term clausick employed to designate a disease. It is evidently derived from the Celtic word clawr, clcfre, or claim', to claw or scratch, as in the itch ; and the Anglo-Saxon word sioc, sice, to be sick or unwell. The name is a new one, and was evidently looked upon as such by the historian. A portion of this history of the supposed first invasion of 'variola ovina' in Britain was published in the Veterinarian for May, 1867, and appeared soon after in the Annales Veterinaires of Brussels, having been translated by Veterinary Surgeon Dele, of Antwerp. This gentleman, in a note, offers the following opinion as to 'clausick.' 'The word clausick has a striking resemblance to the German word klaucnseuche, and the Dutch word klaamoziekte, which signifies disease of the claw or hoof. The affection mentioned by Mr Fleming may, then, be a contagious disease of the hoof, rather than the scab. There can be no doubt as to the meaning of the English term sick, derived from the Anglo-Saxon sioc, siec, which corresponds to the German word scuche, and the Dutch ziekte, that is to say, diseased. With regard to the word claw, which Mr Fleming says comes from the Celtic clawr, clcfre, clauri, and which he translates as to scratch, its analogy with the German word klau, and the Dutch word klaauw (nail, hoof, claw, talon) is perfect. There is as much reason to suppose that the word clausick was applied to a disease of the hoof as to one in which the foot was used to scratch the itching skin.' I think M. Dele is not quite correct in supposing that this can be a hoof disease instead of scab. The meaning of the word, as applied in this instance, is undoubtedly to tear with the nails or claws : to tear or scratch in general. I am not aware that any contagious foot disease was known in sheep at this early period. Besides, here we have distinct evidence of the nature of the malady in the success of the remedv—mercury and lard.
- Waverly Annals, vol. ii. p. 233.
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preceding years lead me to the conclusion that this is correct, and that the first trace we obtain in history ofquot; this serious malady —sheep small-pox—appearing as an epizooty, is in Britain. This is rather singular, considering that the malady is believed to be exotic, and that in those countries from whence we usually derive it, there were at that time numerous chroniclers, who would, we might suppose, have mentioned the outbreaks of this formidable contagion. Such is not the case, however j and to English historians we are indebted for sufficient evidence to establish a reasonable supposition that ovine variola was, in a masked form, imported into Britain by a Spanish ewe. In 1847 the disease was imported by Spanish or merino sheep, and caused severe loss.
But that this disease of sheep existed and was well-known in Britain more than two hundred years before 1275, cannot be a matter for doubt; and that its cure had engaged the attention of the leeches of these days is also a certain fact. In a curious Saxon manuscript of the Harleian collection (No. 585), supposed to be written in the tenth or eleventh century, and inscribed 'Lacnunga' is the following recipe: 'For pocks and skin eruptions (pilt;5 poccum y j-ceapa hpeoplan): lupin and ever-fern, the nether part of it, the upper part of spearwort, ground, great or horse beans, pound all together very small in honey, and in holy water, and mingle all well together, put one dose into the animal's mouth with a spoon, three doses a-day always; for nine times if mickle need be.'1 This is certainly the earliest notice I can find of this malady; but whether it was very prevalent, or whether its contagious nature was understood by the Saxon doctors, is quite a mystery. Beyond the recipe and the mention of the disease, all is darkness. At this somewhat early period, however, the symptoms of disease are but rarely entered in the Leech-books; and for many centuries after this time, the medical philosophers in Britain were content to limit their skill to the principles of cure by means of uncouth and fantastic recipes.
The claurl or scabies of the Welsh sheep has been already
1 Rev. Oswald Cockayne. Leechdoras, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England. London, 1865. Vol. iii. p. 57.
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mentioned in our notice of the Laws of Howel, revised rhore than two hundred vears before this period; and the scab and tetter (rceb, tereji) were well-known diseases among the Saxou shepherds.1
The term rot appears subsequently to have been applied to small-pox, or some other rnalady which was contagious, and to have continued in use for some time.2 For instance, Dryden, four centuries after this invasion, says :—
' Your teeming ewes shall no strange meadows try, Nor fear a rot from tainted company.'
In the fourteenth century, the century following these descriptions, we have direct testimony that the small-pox of sheep was known to poets, and that in England. Delightful old Chaucer is the very first non-scientific writer who, in this way, gives us the plainest proof of its existence when he wrote his famous Canterbury Tales, about the middle of that century. In the Pardoner's Story, when that knavish ecclesiastic is describing his mummeries and conceits, he is made to say :—
' Then show I forth my longe crystal stones, YcrammM full of cloutes and of bones, Relics they be, as weenen they each one,3 Then have 1 in laton4 a shoulder-bone. Which that was of a holy Jewes sheep. Good men, say 1, take of my wordcs keep, If that this bone be wash'd in any well. If cow, or calf, or sheep, or oxi swell, That any worm hath eat, or worm ystung,5 Take water of that well, and wash his tongue. And it is whole anon ; and, furthermore, Of pockes,6 and of scab, and every sore,
1nbsp; Rev. Oswald Cockayne. Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England. London, 1865. Vol. i. p. 24.
2nbsp; In'LovLdon's ILiicyclopa:dia of Agriculture, published so late as 1839, it is noted that the rot is a popular term among shepherds, and includes within its range diseases widely different. This writer speaks of blood rot, glanderous rot, the great rot, hydropic rot, pelt rot, and hunger rot.
3nbsp; As each one weens or believes.
4nbsp; A cross made of a mixture of metals resembling brass.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;5 Stung.
6 The Saxon/avCr, old Anglo-Saxon ' pocca.' The Germans still usually term this disease ' Schafpocke,' and pock is not an unfrequent word among ourselves to designate the variolous eruption.
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Shall every sheep be whole, that of this weli Drinketh a draught : take keep of that I tell.'
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It is not until nearly four centuries after the Saxon leech-book had been written, and a century after Chaucer, in undeniable English, explicitly designates the malady by the name now familiar to us (though in mentioning scab the poet says nothing of rot, an indigenous malady), that the earliest notice of it is to be found on the continent.
In the Amcat PatheUn (the Crafty Lawyer), a farce which appears to have been published in France in 1460, though it may have been played before that time, we learn that the disease was sometimes prevalent amongst the flocks, and was known as clavelee (from claims, a nail; probably owing to the way in which the scabs or pustules studded the skin like nail-heads), the popular name for it in France at the present day. One of the actors, Agnelet (lambkin), blames it for causing a considerable mortality.1 The first notice we have of it by a medical writer is in 1578.
Some writers have believed the disease known as pusula (another form of expression for pustula, a blister, pimple, or pustule) by the Romans, and mentioned by Marcus Columella to be ovine small-pox j but there is little proof that such was the case. On the contrary, we have it distinctly stated that it was the ignis sacer. c list etiam insanahilis ignis sacer, qiiem pusulam vacant pastores.'2 We will examine this part of the subject hereafter. At present our researches into the history of small-pox in sheep effectually demolishes the absurd notion of a great French na-
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1nbsp; Laharpe. Cours de Litterat., part ii. chap. vii. Luard. Melange de Litterat. Hist, du Theatre Frangaise, vol. iv. p. 36.
2nbsp; There is some difficulty here in the stereotyped phrase ignis sacer. The ancients applied the words to many skin affections, we have reason to believe ; and with the exception of the extreme contagiousness of that malady, its chiefly affecting the surface of the body, and its being designated a pustular disease by the Roman shepherds, we have no proof as to its identity with small-pox. The ignis sacer has usually been supposed to be gangrenous erysipelas, which is sometimes epizootic amongst the flocks of southern countries (Gelle. Pathologie Bovine), and is thought by some to be only a form of anthrax. (See Gasparin. Maladies des Betes ä Laine. Reynal. Dictionnaire de Med. amp;c., Veterinaires, vol. vi. Art. ' Erysipele.') At a certain stage of the malady vesicles or bullas are formed, which may have misled the shepherds, who would think them pustules.
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turalist,1 that the variolous disease owed its origin to the turkey {Meleagris gallopavo), a bird only imported into Europe by the Spaniards in 1530^ nearly five hundred years after it is mentioned as a known disease, and two hundred after Chaucer distinctly alludes to it; as well as three hundred after a probable outbreak in England, due to the importation of a diseased Spanish sheep, and which lasted for twenty-eight years. Besides, the disease (like cow-pox ?2) has never, to my knowledge, been seen in Mexico, the native country of the turkey.
Much mystery attends the early history of human variola in Europe. We have already seen that in A.D. 569 the word variola was employed to designate an epidemic in Italy and France; the malady certainly appears to have been sufficiently specified towards the end of the sixth century under the designations of lues cum vesicis pusula; or pustulce, and morhus dy-sentericus cum pustulis, as well as coralis. Gregory of Tours says : Rusticiores vero coralcs has pustulas nominabant; and in a.d. 772 the pox (small-pox) is reported to have raged over the whole of Ireland. Rhazes, or Razi, an Arab physician, accurately described the disease in a special monograph, about the year 900; and Dr Short, an excellent medical historian, appears to believe that the malady was one of ancient date in Europe, but had not attracted much attention because of the mild form it exhibited. ' The small-pox seem not to have been so severe and fatal formerly as in late ages, since the ancients do not treat of them particularly; but are thought to intend them under such general names as some think sufficient to express their nature, as papulas, Jilius ignis, carbojies ad ustos, pustulas latas sublimes nigras, ulcerosas caput culemque puerorum occu-pare ; exanthemata eithymata multa et varia exercere, amp;;c. The Arabians first treated of them professedly, and they always joined them to the plague and pestilential fevers ; but neither Greeks, Latins, nor Arabians tell us when they first begun : probably because they were long before their days, but not being so fatal as
1nbsp; Buffon. Hist. Nat. du Dindon.
2nbsp; For evidence with regard to the probable existence of cow-pox among the cattle of South America from the earliest times, see Humboldt, Essai Politique sur la Royaume de la Nouvelle-Espagne, vol. i. p. 67.
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now, they challenged no snch particular regard.....I do not
take the small-pox in general to depend on either season or temperature of the air; for in different places, in the same climate and constitution, I find them a perpetual epidemic,, scarce ever out in all places of Britain at once; and besides (as Dr Lister and Dr Hillary well observe), they are originally an exotic disease, unknown to Europe, Asia Minor, or Africa, before the spice trade was opened to the remotest part of the East Indies, when they were first brought into Africa, thence into Europe. The first time we meet with them in English history is in 907.'1
In a Saxon f Laece Boc/ or Leech Book, of the first half of the tenth century, we find several recipes for the cure of the small-pox, which is there termed ' poc addle ' (poc able), or pock ailment. The recipes consist of internal remedies, chiefly decoctions of herbs, and salves (Sealp). One of the recipes says: 'Against pocks (pi^poccum), a man shall freely employ bloodletting and drink melted butter, a bowl full of it: if they break out one must delve or dig away each one of them with a thorn; and then let him drip wine or alder drink within them, then they will not be seen, or no traces will remain.' And to show that the disease was greatly dreaded, we have a prayer against it. In a Cottonian MS. there is a charm against small-
c
pox. The MSS. containing these recipes, prayers, and charms, were, in all probability, written at periods but little removed from the date when Rhazes composed his monograph on this serious malady.
Burton 2 says that the ' Judari,' or small-pox, appears to be indigenous to the countries bordering upon the Red Sea. He observes that we read of it there in the earliest works of the Arabs; and even to the present day it sometimes sweeps through Arabia and the Somali country with desolating violence. Conjecture, however, goes a long way beyond reason when it discovers small-pox in the Tayr Ababil, the f swallow-birds/ which, according to the Koran, destroyed the Abyssinian host of Abra-hat el Ashrand in 569 or 572.3 There is some difficulty about
1nbsp; nbsp;T.Short. Op. cit., vol. ii. pp. 361, 415.
2nbsp; Burton. Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, vol. i. p. 367.
3nbsp; Hecker. Geschichte der Medicin, vol. ii. p. 152.
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the word alahil, Major Price having translated it as the plural of ahilali, a vesicle; but Burton thinks the former is an Arabic and the latter a Persian word, and that they have no connection whatever. M. C. de Perceval, quoting the ' Sirat el Rasul/ which says that at that time small-pox first appeared in Arabia, ascribes the destruction of the host of Yemen to an epidemic and a violent tempest. The strangest part of the story is, that although it occurred at Meccah, about two months before Mahomet's birth, and therefore within the memory of many living at the time, the prophet alludes to it in the Koran as a miracle. The same intrepid traveller. Burton, in another work on Africa, remarks: ' The most dangerous disease is small-pox, which history traces to Eastern Abyssinia, where it still becomes at times a violent epidemic, sweeping off its thousands/ 1 And elsewhere, in speaking of the diseases of East Africa, he seems to think the small-pox a native of that country. fThe most dangerous epidemic is its alrorigen, the small-pox, which propagated without contact or fomites, sweeps at times like a storm of death over the land/ 2
Niebuhr3 informs us that a rude form of inoculation—the mother pricking the child's arm with a thorn—has been known in Yemen from time immemorial. Forbes thought small-pox in man had been known in Ceylon since the 3rd century. When mentioning vaccination in that island, he expresses a hope that it will ' prevent any very extensive ravages from a cause which has formerly contributed materially to the depopulation of the island, and is probably the Red-eyed Demon of pestilence who is recorded to have swept the country of half its numbers in the 3rd century, and in the reign of Sirisangabo.'4 It may at this primitive period have been introduced from Africa.
With regard to variola ovina, it is curious to find that its supposed earliest invasion of this country as an epizoöty, and its presence here and elsewhere since the 13th century, should be in connection with the importation or introduction of Merino
1nbsp; First Footsteps in East Africa, p. 180.
2nbsp; The Lake Regions of Central Africa, vol. ii. p. 318.
3nbsp; Beschriebung von Arabien, 1772.
4nbsp; Eleven Years in Ceylop, vol. i. p. 357.
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sheep. It is asserted that the sheep of the South Atlas^ Africa, are the progenitors of the Spanish Merino j * and, according to Erman/ the original Spanish sheep were black, with a coarse and very inferior wool, till the Roman colonists settled there and introduced a taste for rural pursuits. Marcus Coiuinella (A.D.40) was the first to notice the wild mouflons at Cadiz, which were on their way from Africa to the Arena at Rome, and which race he afterwards used for the improvement of the Spanish Lreed. Did these African sheep introduce the disease into Europe at this period, when they were exported from a region where the smallpox of man appears to have had its earliest home ? It will be seen hereafter that this breed introduced into France and Germany a malady unknown amongst them in Spain, and never seen or heard of until they were imported into those countries —the contagious foot disease. Columella was the first to breed the wild moufion with the Spanish sheep; he was also the first to describe an extremely contagious and fatal disease amongst sheep, which he designated ignis sacer, but which the shepherds called pasula. Was this the variolous disease of the ovine species? It would scarcely be safe to pronounce in a positive manner; and unfortunately the paucity of writers between the ist and 9th or 10th centuries, when the malady is for the first time properly named, is a great bar to further investigation in this direction.
For the year 1280, there is mention made of perhaps this same sheep mortality, which may have extended to Wales. ' There was a great murrain among sheep {magnum morina ovium), which began in the preceding year.'3
A distinguished professor,4 in discussing the agricultural history for this epoch, writes: 'Among the diseases peculiar to sheep, the scab is very frequently mentioned. This disease made its appearance at or about the year T388 (?), and became endemic. It was at first treated with copperas and verdigris; but in time, that is, at about the close of the 13th century, it was
1nbsp; Tristram. The Great Sahara, p. 56.
2nbsp;Travels in Siberia, vol. ii. p. 161.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;3 Annales Cambrise. 4 y. Rogers. Hist, of Agriculture in the 13th and 14th centuries, vol. i.
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discovered that tar (generally called bitumen in the accounts of the farm bailiffsj but occasionally by its English name) was a specific for the complaint. Shortly after this time the purchase of tar is a regular entry. It is clear that the remedy was mixed with butter or lard, and then rubbed in. Note is occasionally taken of any exceptional prevalence of this disease, which seems never to have been eradicated, but only to have varied in intensity and frequency. f And for this year (1288), in the farm accounts of Stanham, he finds the following entry: Nimia in-firmitas et Scabies bidentium : fleeces small/
' Sheep, again/ observes Mr Rogers,1 in referring to this period, 'were liable to several diseases, and among these the rot and the scab. The former affecting the general health of the animal, the latter its most valuable produce, were the cause of continual anxiety to the medieval farmer as they are to his descendant.'
'There are,' says Walter de Henley, ' several means by which shepherds profess to discover the existence of rot. 1. They look at the veins under the eyelid. If these are red, the sheep is sound; if white, unsound. 3. They try the wool on the ribs. If it holds firmly to the skin, it is a good sign; if it pulls off easily, it is a bad one. 3. If the skin, on rubbing, reddens, the sheep is sound; if it remains pale, the animal is rotten. 4. About All Saints' day, November 1, if the hoar-frost in the morning is found to cling to the wool, it is a good sign; but if it be melted, it is a sign that the animal is suffering from an unnatural heat, and that it is probably unsound. If one of your sheep dies, put the flesh at once into water, and keep it there from daybreak to three o'clock {/io?tes), then hang it up to drain thoroughly, salt it and dry it. It will do for your labourers.'2
The venerable and learned Fleta,3 who also writes at this period, gives us an excellent description of the duties ofquot;the shepherd, the care to be taken of the sheep, and the maladies to which they were then liable. The great rarity of this work, and the value of its author's remarks in the chapter entitled 'De toribus/ almost induce me to offer a translation, but space forbids.
1 Rogers. Op. cit, vol. i. p. 334.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; ^ Ibid.
3 Fleta. Commentarius Juris Anglicani, lib. ii. cap. 79.
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A.D. 1379. 'I11 th'3 yearj in every young horse that was foaled, there appeared four permanent teeth/ 1
A.D. 1283. Mr Rogers informs us that in the accounts for farm stock for Ditchingham, under this date, there is the entry, c Morbus generalise2 When King Philip of France was invading Spain with 200,000 infantry and 86,000 cavalry, and while at Gerona, the whole force suffered severely from disease, losing 4000
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men, and nearly as many horses. Tremendous swarms of flies
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[nioscas) as large as acorns, and of a different shape from the ordinary flies, appeared, and attacked both men and horses. No sooner were these stung by them than they died. So great was the sickness that this monarch was unable to show himself befoie Cataluna. This dreadful plague, says the chronicler, was attributed to a miracle wrought by St Narcissus.3
a.d. 1286. A strange kind of worm infested Prussia. It had a tail like a crab, and whatever animal was stung by it wasnbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; I
dead within three days.4 ' Throughout Austria and some other countries the following unheard-of occurrence took place: the tovvls and small birds that were previously perfectly healthy suddenly dropped down dead, and the heavens were so robbed of their small birds that scarcely a magpie, or a crow, or any other bird, was to be seen.'5
a.d. 1291. An epizoöty in Iceland among horses. 'The great icebergs melted, and winter went awayj then came a disease among cattle [felli vetr).'0
a.d. 1299. An epizootv among horses at Seville. According to the veterinarians Martin Arrendondoand Fernando Calvo, who derived their information from Laurentius Rusius, it manifested itself with great severity, and killed more than one thousand horses. Rusius says of it: 'There was a certain fever broke out among horses which seemed to be incurable.
1 Chronic. Claustro-Neoburgens.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;2 Rogers. Op. cit., vol. ii.
3nbsp; Villalba. Op. cit., vol. i. p. 63. These flies may have been the Simulum reptans, a native of eastern countries and of Hungary; or even the African fly, Chrysops coecutiens, which is said to attack horses and to blind them. They might have been carried over by high winds to Spain.
4nbsp; Chronic. Magdeburg.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;5 Chronic. Claustro-Neoburgens. 6 Annals Isl. Langcbek, vol. iii. p. 119.
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The horse carried its head drooping, would eat nothing, tears ran from the eyes, and there was hurried beating of the flanks. The malady was epidemical, and in that year more than one thousand horses died,'1 For Germany there is noted the following : ' In this year a deadly disease broke out among cattle, which destroyed many throughout the world.'2
cAt Genelow Castle, in Burgundy, was a great fight or battle of dogs, wherein of 3000 all were killed but one.'3
What may have been merely the result of epizootic diseases amongst some of the lower animals, old authors, in all probability, ascribed to battles between them. It must not be forgotten, however, that sometimes affrays of this kind do happen, though very rarely, and that damage is not unfrequent. Amongst dogs, for example, rival factions now and again meet and decide their differences by combat, like Christians, as Burton and Hooker testify.4
a.D. 1303. f A great loss of cows {ho-dhith), and a slaughter [ar) upon all the beasts of Ireland this year.'6
a.D. 1308. In Ireland, 'in the Easter, in the month of March in this year, there was a destruction of men and cattle in it, and great inclemency of weather too.'0 'There was a great murrain of cattle.'7
A.D. 1310. In Germany, destruction of plants and inundations. ' This year was a very unfortunate year in consequence of the large quantity of vermin and caterpillars and mice, which ate up everything before them. Then, because of the great inundations, which began on the 13th of July, were greater ist of August, and greatest on the 2nd of August, much damage was done.'8
' There was so great a famine and scarcity of victuals in the kingdom of Scotland, Anno Domini 1310, that in many
1nbsp; Laurentius Rusius. Hippatria or Marescalia, vol. i. chap. clvi. p. 135. Heusinger says the epizooty occurred at Rome. It may have been, and probably was, what is now popularly termed 'influenza.'
2nbsp; Chronic. Ensdorf. CEfele, vol. i. p. 585.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;3 T. Short. Op. cit., p. 159.
4nbsp; Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, vol. i. p. 289. Tour in Iceland.
5nbsp; Annals of Connaught.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;6 Ibid.
7nbsp; Annals of Clonmacnoise.
8nbsp;I/ennebergsche. Chronik., i. p. 329.
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districts multitudes were compelled through hunger to eat the flesh of horses and of other unclean animals/ 1
a.D. 1313. An epizoöty among the horses at Rome. Rusius says of it: cAn epizoöty of horses at Rome. Some called the disease a fever, and some esquinancy (angina). I myself lost more than fifty horses in my time.J 2 There was also an epizootic disease amongst horses [hrosfellis vetr) in Iceland.3
a.D. 1314. Famine In England. 'The morrow after Candlemas day there assembled a parliament at London to treat of the state of the kingdom, and how to bring down the prices of victuals, that were now grown to be so dear that the common people were not able to live. . . . Notwithstanding the statutes of the last parliament, the King's writs, amp;c., all things were sold dearer than before. No flesh could be had, capons and geese would not be found, eggs were hard to come by, sheep died of the rot, swine were out of the way; a quartern of wheat, beans, pease were sold for twenty shillings, a quartern of malt for a mark, a quarter of salt for thirty-five shillings, amp;c. . . . The king in a parliament at London revoked the provisions before made for selling of victuals, and permitted all men to make the best of what they had. Nevertheless, the dearth increased through the abundance of rain that fell in the harvest, so that a quarter of wheat or malt was sold before midsummer for thirty shillings, and after for forty shillings. There followed this famine a grievous mortality of people, so that the quick had
enough to do to bury the dead.....The beasts and cattle
also, by the corrupt grass whereof they fed, died, whereby it came to pass that the eating of flesh was suspected of all men, for flesh of beasts not corrupted was hard to find. Horse-flesh was counted great delicates, the poor stole fat dogs to eat, some (it was said) compelled through famine, in hidden places, did eat the flesh of their own children, and some stole others which they devoured. Those who were in prisons did pluck in pieces those that were newly brought amongst them, and greedily devoured them half alive/4
1nbsp; Johannis de Fordun. Scotichronicon, p. 1005.
2nbsp;Laurent. Rusius. Op. cit.
3nbsp;Annals Island. Langebek, vol. iii. p. 129.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;4 Stow. Annals, p. 217, 218.
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a.d. 1315. ' Also in the ninth year of King Edward's reign, before Christmas, a blazing star or comet appeared in the north part of the element by the space of a month together, and after
followed dearth and death.....The dearth, by reason of the
unseasonable weather in the summer and harvest last past, still increased, so that which with much ado was issued (carried), after, when it came to the proofs, yielded nothing to the value of that which in sheaf it seemed to contain, so that wheat and other grain which was at a sore price before, now was enhanced to a far higher rate, the scarcity thereof being so great, that a quarter of wheat was sold for forty shillings, which was a great price, if we consider the value of money then current. Also by reason of the murrain that fell among cattle, beeves and muttons were unreasonably priced.'1
a.d. 1316. For this year Duchesne makes mention of a general cpizooty and epidemy which prevailed in England. It was supposed to be due to extreme humidity of the air occasioned by long-continued rains after a severe winter, and inundations. The grain was rotted, and fruit and all kinds of forage and grain were destroyed. The consequence was a most intractable and deadly form of dysentery, which carried off large numbers of men and animals.2 ' Wheat, though poor stuft, was sold at forty and forty-four shillings per quarter; and by reason of the murrain among cattle, beef and mutton were exceeding dear; after this, both Famine and mortality increased much, together with a general failure of all fruits of the earth, by excessive rains and unseasonable weather.'3 Rogers discovers in the records of Ponteland, that the bailiff is allowed for six oxen which had died of the disease ' current' in the country. A similar state of affairs was noted in Saxony.4
In many countries the extraordinary state of the weather eave rise to famine and disease.6
A.D. 1317. ' In this season victuals were so scant and dear, and wheat and other grain brought so high a price, that the
1nbsp; Holinshed. Op. cit.
2nbsp; A. Duchesne. Histoire Gen. d'Angleterre, p. 728.
3nbsp; nbsp;r. Short. Op. cit., p. 161.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;4 Hist. Agric, vol. ii. 5 See Frari, and also Schnumr.
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people were constraitied through famine to eat the flesh of horses, dogs, and other vile beasts, which is wonderful to believe, and yet for default there died a great multitude of people in divers places of the land. Fourpence in bread of the coarsest sort would not suffice a man a day. Wheat was sold in London for four marks the quarter, and even more. Then after this dearth
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and scarcity of victuals ensued a great death and mortality of people.'1 ' In that same year was great murrain of beasts, which began in Essex, and after it spread through the land. It reigned most in oxen, and when the beasts were dead dogs would not eat of the flesh.J 2
a.D. 1318. ' A great murrain of kine happened, which were so mortallv infected, that dogs and ravens eating of the carrion of the kine, were poisoned, and did swell to death, so that no man durst eat any beef.'3 Mr Rogers reports that in this year, at Southampton, there was f murrain among oxen. Hay scarce.'4
a.D. 1319. ' In this season, to wit, 1319, a great murrain and death of cattle chanced through the whole of the realm, spreading from place to place, but especially this year it raged most in the north, whereas in the years before it began in the south parts.'5 The carrion still poisonous.6 ' In the same year there was an unheard-of pestilence among animals in England, but from what cause is doubtful. It began in Essex about Eastc1-, and spread itself in a short time through the whole island, lasting throughout the whole year, and contaminating almost all the cattle of the realm. It is rumoured, what is most unusual, and what will be perhaps incredible to future ages, that dogs died from eating the dead bodies of the cattle, and crows were swollen immediately after feeding on them, and were as though intoxicated with poison, and fell down dead, on account of which circumstance, no man dared to eat the flesh of oxen, because this pest prevailed chiefly in oxen. It was said that the whole of Gaul was infected with
1nbsp; Holinshcd. Op. cit.
2nbsp; nbsp;Capgrave. Chronicles of England.
3nbsp; Stmv. Op. cit., p. 219.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;4 Rogers. Op. cit., vol. ii. 5 Holinshed. Op. cit. 6 T. Short. Op. cit., p. 163.
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this disease about the same time.'1 This was, without doubt, another severe and wide-spread outbreak of anthrax.
a.D. 1320. At Southampton, according to Mr Rogers' researches, c Ffarsine (farcy) was prevalent among horses in the summer.'2
A.D. 1321. An exceeding hot and dry summer in England ; springs and rivers failed, beasts and cattle suffered extremely; many died for want of drink.3
a.d. 1321, 1323. CA great destruction of cows throughout all Ireland, the like of which was never known.'4
a.d. 1324. ' The murrain of cows continued still in Ireland, and was called the quot;movie dawine.quot; '5 'The same destruction of cows throughout all Ireland this year, and it was it that was called the quot;maeldamhnaigh.quot;'0 'There was a general plague of cows and also other animals, which was called in Ireland quot; mal-dow.quot; '7 This was probably the same epizoöty that prevailed in England in 1319.
a.d. 1325. A great drought in England. ' Here, in the summer of this and the following vear, there was so sneata drougrht that it may truly be said concerning this land what Theodolus has applied to it:—
Anglorum terras jam ferviäa torruit Jestas, In cancro solis dum volvitur aureus axis.
' In consequence of the drought, the great rivers were dried up, the springs failed, and in many places water had entirely disappeared. In consequence of this misfortune, great multitudes of animals, wild as well as domestic, perished of thirst.'8
Influenza, for the first time in the annals of that country, is mentioned as occurring in Ireland. 'An epidemical disease {teidhm galair) common throughout all Erinn, and which was called quot; slaedanquot; (prostration-influenza), which aflected, during three or four days, every person, so that it was second only to death.'B
1nbsp; nbsp;Thomas Wahingham. Historia Anglicana.
2nbsp; Hist. Agricult.
3nbsp; nbsp;T. Short. Op. cit., p. 163.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;4 Annals of Connaught. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. ' Annals of Ross.
8 Thomas Walsingham. Op. cit.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;9 Annals of Ulster.
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A.D. 1338. In an Arab treatise on veterinary science, written by a wealthy chief of Yemen in 909 of the Hegira, and entitled ' Kitäb el-akouäl/ there is an account of a disastrous epizoöty among the famed horses of Yemen in this year. The translation of M. Perron1 runs as follows :—
' The epizoöty that attacked the horses of Yemen in the year of the Hegira 728, was of the worst character and was rapidly mortal. No one knew how to recognize or characterize it, and in no book or hippiatric treatise of past ages could any distinctive traces of it be found mentioned. No efficacious remedy could be derived to cure it. The animal attacked was not allowed time to benefit by medical or any other kind of treatment. This malady had not, like other diseases, any premonitory symptoms. It suddenly struck the animal, which perhaps would be eating, and all at once something escaped from the nostrils like mucus; for a moment the horse's head was drooping on the ground, from which he had no longer strength to raise it, and then he fell dead. Sometimes he struggled for a few seconds before he expired. The malady first began in the kingdom of Hadramaüt, then it was propagated into Yemen, and as far as Mecca. An incalculable number of horses perished.
f Mules also died in great numbers, but not so extensively as the horses. The best and purest bred horses furnished the largest number of victims to the scourge. At the great fair of Aden they died in crowds. So quickly did the animals succumb, that while two individuals were discussing the price of a horse, the disease attacked it, and it died before they had time to conclude the bargain. Horse-dealers from India also bought horses there at very high prices, but these carried the malady with them and suddenly perished. It was observed, as a consequence of these frequent repetitions, that the Indian dealers carefully everted the upper eyelid of any horse they were about to buy; and any animal that showed a yellow tint in this part they abstained from purchasing. Indeed, when this tinge was present, it was not long before the horse succumbed to the malady/ This may have been an epizoöty of the protean malady 'influenza' or typhus
1 Le Näceri. Paris, i860. Vol. iii. p. 275.
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A.D. 1333. fThe losses of stock sustained by the medieval fanner/ says Mr Rogers,1 'were enormous. As has been said, all deaths were grouped under the genera! name quot;murrain.quot; But at Maldon, the farmer, in 1333, reports the loss of more than half his sheep and lambs ; at Letherhead the loss is little short of the same rate; at Farley it is more than twenty-five per cent; at Woolford and Basingstoke it is about thirty-four per cent; at Wolford a little less than fourteen; and at Cuxham about eleven.'
a.d. 1334. Inundations in England. 'This year were so great waters, that they broke down walls in Temse (Thames?), and other places overcovered the lands, and killed many beasts.'-
A.D. 1335. In England, 'after abundance of rain of this year, came a murrain of cattle and dearth of corn. Wheat at forty shillings a quarter.'3 'So great a death in England that scarce could the living bury the dead.'4
In Ireland, ' there was such a great snow in the spring of this year, that the most part of the small fovvle of Erinn died.'* ' A great snow in the spring of this year, by which was destroyed almost all the small birds of Ireland.'0 Great swarms of locusts in Italy/
a.D. 1336. A mortality among animals in Iceland. 'Then in spring came a storm of water so great, that all kinds of cattle were destroyed.'8
In Ireland, 'a great, plague of snow and of frost in this year, from the first fortnight of winter until a part of the spring had commenced. A great portion of the cattle of Erinn were lost in it; and the grass and corn-fields of Ireland were destroyed the same year.'9
A.D. 1338. Heavy rain in Germany. In the previous year locusts appeared in crowds in every part of Europe. In this vear in Germany there appears to have been a scarcity of salt. ' Worms were bred in human bodies, so that many people died. Out of the mouths of these the worms crept—a sight dreadful to
2 Hist. Agricult., vol. i. p. 53.
2nbsp; nbsp;Capgrave. Op. cit.
3nbsp; Hairy de Knyghton. Op. cit.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;* How.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;5 Annals of Clonmacnoise. e Annals of Connaught. 7 Corio. Storia di Milano.
' Annal. Island. Langebck. Scrip, rer. Dan., iii. 134, _3 Annals of Ulster.
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look at. The frequent rains in the marshy places caused immense mortality to man and beast, through the dykes having been broken down.'1
In Ireland, ' intense frost, with very deep snow, from the 2nd of December to the 10th of February/2 fThis year was very tempestuous, and noxious to man and beast .... and in this year oxen and cowes died, and sheep, particularly, were almost destroyed, so that, according to the common complaint, scarcely the seventh part escaped from the pestilence; but the loss of lambs was greater/3 This is the first recorded ovine epizoöty in Ireland.
a.D. 1339. c A great plague {plaigh) from frost and from snow upon the cattle and the grass and corn-fields of Ireland, from a fortnight of winter to a part of the spring.5 • In this and the following year locusts were in Europe.
a.d. 1345. In the bailiff's accounts for Walford, there is the following entry : ' Tantum (of tar and grease); propter caristiam et nimiam scabiem.'5 Plague in mankind in Illyria and Italy during this and successive years.0
a.d. 1347-9. Before this period, there had been terrible cos-mical perturbations, which caused great physical changes in China and other countries, and destroyed immense multitudes of human beings. ' From China to the Atlantic, the foundations of the earth were shaken. Throughout Asia and Europe the atmosphere was in commotion, and endangered, by its baneful influence, both vegetable and animal life. The series of these great events began in the year 1333, fifteen years before the plague (the quot;Black Death,quot; Sorte Diod, or Schwarze Tod) broke out in Europe; they first appeared in China. Here a 'parching drought, accompanied by famine, commenced in the tract of country watered by the rivers Kiang and Hoangho. This was followed by such violent torrents of rain, in and about Kiangsi, at that time the capital of the Empire, that, according to tradition, more than 400,000 people perished in the floods. Finally the
1nbsp; Ha/nsfortii. Chronologia. Langebek. Vol. i. p. 303.
2nbsp; nbsp;Grace. Annals.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;3 Clyn. Annals. 4nbsp; Annals of Connaught. 5 Hist. Agricult., vol. ii. 6nbsp; Frari, Op. cit. p. 295.
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mountain Tsinchow fell in, and vast clefts were formed in the earth. On the succeeding year (1334)., passing over fabulous traditions, the neighbourhood of Canton was visited by inundations; whilst in Tche, after an unexampled drought, a plague arose, which is said to have carried off 5,000,000 people. A few months afterwards an earthquake followed, at and near Kiangsi; and subsequent to the falling in of the mountains of Ki-ming-shan, a lake was formed of more than a hundred leagues in circumference, where, again, thousands found their grave. In How-kwang and Honan a drought prevailed for five months, and innumerable swarms of locusts destroyed the vegetation; while famine and pestilence, as usual, followed in their train. Connected accounts of the condition of Europe are not to be expected from the writers of the fourteenth century. It is remarkable, however, that simultaneously with a drought and renewed floods in China, in 1336, many uncommon atmospheric phenomena, and in the winter frequent thunder-storms, were observed in the north of France; and so early as the eventful year of 1333 an eruption of Etna took place. According to the Chinese Annals, about 4,000,000 people perished by famine in the neighbourhood of Kiang in 1337; and deluges, swarms of locusts, and an earthquake which lasted six days, caused incredible devastation. In the same year the first swarms of locusts ap-'nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;pcared in Franconia, which were succeeded in the following year
by myriads of these insects. In 1338, Kiangsi was visited by an earthquake of ten days' duration; at the same time France suffered from a failure in the harvest; and thenceforth, till the vear 1342, there was in China a constant succession of inundations, earthquakes, and famines. In the same year great floods occurred in the vicinity of the Rhine and in France, which could not be attributed to rain alone; for everywhere, even on the tops of mountains, springs were seen to burst forth, and dry tracts were laid under water in an inexplicable manner. In the following year the mountain Hong-tchang, in China, fell in, and caused a destructive deluge; and in Pien-chow and Leang-chow, after three months' rain, there followed unheard-of inundations, which destroyed seven cities. In Egypt and Syria violent earthquakes took'place; and in China they became, from
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this time, more and more frequent; for they recurred in 1344, in Ven-chow, where the sea overflowed in consequence; in 1345, in Ki-chow, and in both the following years in Canton, with subterraneous thunder. Meanwhile floods and famines devastated various districts, until 1347, when the fury of the elements subsided in China.1
The signs of terrestrial commotions commenced in Europe in the year 1348, after the intervening districts of country in Asia had probably been visited in the same manner.
On the island of Cyprus, the plague from the East had already broken out; when an earthquake shook the foundations of the island, and was accompanied by so frightful a hurricane, that the inhabitants who had slain their Mahometan slaves, in order that they might not themselves be subjugated by them, fled in dismay, in all directions. The sea overflowed, the ships were dashed to pieces on the rocks, and few outlived the terrific event, whereby this fertile and blooming island was converted into a desert. Before the earthquake, a pestiferous wind spread so poisonous an odour, that many, being overpowered by it, fell clown suddenly and expired in dreadful agonies.2 Villanius, the historian of Florence, gives an account of a pestilence, which, beginning in Upper Asia, in 1346, spread from Cathay, the ancient name for China, in all directions, nearly depopulating the whole of Asia, and penetrating Egypt, Greece, and Italv, to France, Spain, England, and Germany. It arose, he tells us, from a foul-smelling vapour, which was imagined to have emanated from some fiery body of aerial or terrestrial origin. This gas destroyed all that stood in its way, and horses and cattle suffered severely, but not more so than the human species. Trees, and everything else, for the space of fifteen days' journey around its track, were blighted, and curious creatures, furnished with feet and tails, worms, and swarms of snakes, fell upon the earth. In a short time these putrefied, and the stench from them so infected the atmosphere, that pestilence prevailed everywhere.3
This phenomena is one of the rarest that has ever been observed, for nothing is more constant than the composition of the
1 Deguignes. History of China, p. 226.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; 2 Ibid. p. 225.
3 Gio. Villani. Istorie Fiorentine, book xii. chap. 121, 122.
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air; and in no respect has nature been more careful in the preservation of organic life. Never have naturalists discovered in the atmosphere foreign elements, which, evident to the senses, and borne by the winds, spread from land to land, carrying disease over whole portions of the earth, as is recounted to have taken place in the year 1348. It is, therefore, the more to be regretted, that in this extraordinary period, which, owing to the low condition of science, was very deficient in accurate observers, so little can be depended on respecting those uncommon occurrences in the air, should have been recorded. Yet, German accounts say expressly, that a thick, stinking mist advanced from the east, and spread itself over Italy; and there could be no deception in so palpable a phenomenon. Schnurrcr and Chalin mention this, and Spangenberg says, ' There were also many locusts, which had been blown into the sea by a hurricane, and afterwards cast dead upon the shore, and produced a noxious exhalation; and a dense and awful fog was seen in the heavens, rising in the east, and descending upon Italy.'x The credibility of unadorned traditions, however little they may satisfy physical research, can scarcely be called in question when we consider the connection of events; for just at this time earthquakes were more general than they had been within the range of history. In thousands of places chasms were formed, from whence arose noxious vapours; and as at that time natural occurrences were transformed into miracles, it was reported that a fiery meteor, which descended on the earth far in the east, had destroyed everything within a circumference of more than a hundred leagues, infecting the air far and wide.2 The consequences of innumerable floods contributed to the same effect; vast river districts had been converted into swamps; foul vapours arose everywhere, increased by the odour of putrefied locusts, which had never perhaps darkened the sun in thicker swarms spreading from the east to the west, and of countless corpses, which even in the well-regulated countries of Europe, they knew not how to remove quickly enough out of the sight of the living. It is probable, therefore, that the atmosphere contained foreign, and
1 Cyriac Spangenha-g. Mansfeld Chronicle, chap. 287, fol. 536. 2 Mezeray. Histoire de France, vol. ii. p. 418. Paris, 1685.
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sensibly perceptible, admixtures to a great extent, which, at least in the lower regions, could not be decomposed, or rendered ineffective by separation. Now, if we go back to the symptoms of the disease, the ardent inflammation of the lungs points out that the organs of respiration yielded to the attack of an atmospheric poison—a poison which, if we admit the independent origin of the Black Plague at any one place on the globe, which under such extraordinary circumstances it would be difficult to doubt, attacked the course of the circulation in as hostile a manner as that which produced inflammation of the spleen, and other animal contacnous that cause swelling and inflammation of the lymphatic glands.
Pursuing the course of these grand revolutions further, we find notice of an unexampled earthquake, which, on the 25th of January, 1348, shook Greece, Italy, and the neighbouring countries. Naples, Rome, Pisa, Bologna, Padua, Venice, and many other cities suffered considerably. Whole villages were swallowed up. Castles, houses, and churches were overthrown, and hundreds of people were buried beneath their ruins. In Carinthia thirty villages, together with all the churches, were demolished; more than a thousand corpses were drawn out of the rubbish; the city of Villach was so completely destroyed, that very few of its inhabitants were saved ; and when the earth ceased to tremble, it was found that mountains had been moved from their positions, and that many hamlets were left in ruins. It is recorded that, during this earthquake, the wine in the casks became turbid, a statement which may be considered as furnishing a proof, that changes causing a decomposition of the atmosphere had taken place; but if we had no other information from which the excitement of conflicting powers of nature during these commotions might be inferred, yet scientific observations in modern times have shown that the relation of the atmosphere to the earth is changed by volcanic influences. . . . Independently of this, however, we know that during this earthquake, the duration of which is stated by some to have been a week, and by others a fortnight, people experienced an unusual stupor and headache, and that many fainted away.1 These destructive
1 Albert Argentiniens. Chronic, in Urstis. Scrip, rer. Germanic. Francof. 1585.
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earthquakes extended as far as the neighbourhood of Basle^ and recurred until the year 1360, throughout Germanyj France^ Silesia, Poland, England, and Denmark, and much further north. Towering icebergs formed at the same time on the coast of East Greenland, in consequence of the general concussion of the earth's organism ; and no mortal, from that time forward, has ever seen that shore or its inhabitants. Mezeray says, ' A universal earthquake, even in France and the northern countries, threw down entire cities, tore up trees and mountains, covered the regions of the world with abysses so profound that it appeared as if the infernal regions had opened to swallow up the human species/1
Great and extraordinary meteors appeared in many places, and were regarded with superstitious horror. A pillar of fire, which on the aotb of December, 1348, remained for an hour at sunrise over the Pope's palace in Avignon;2 a fireball, which in August of the same year was seen at sunset over Paris, and was distinguished from similar phenomena by its longer duration, not to mention other instances mixed up with wonderful prophecies and omens, are recorded in the chronicles ofthat age. The order of the seasons seemed to be inverted—rains (in Germany these were blood-colonred), floods, and failures in crops were so general, that few places were exempt from them. The consequences of these failures were soon felt, especially in Italy and the surrounding countries, where, in this year, a rain which had continued for four months, destroyed the seed. . . . To attempt, five centuries after that age of desolation, to point out the causes of a cosmical commotion, which has never recurred to an equal extent, to indicate scientifically the influences which called forth so terrific a poison in the bodies of men and animals, exceeds the limits of human understanding. ... In the progress of connected natural phenomena, from east to west, that great law of nature is plainly revealed which has so often and evidently manifested itself in the earth's organism, as well as in the state of nations dependent upon it. In the inmost depths of the globe that impulse was given in the year 1333, which in uninterrupted
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1 Mezeray. Op. cit. p. 418.
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succession for six-and-twenty years shook the surface of the earth, even to the western shores of Europe. From the very beginning the air partook of the terrestrial concussion, atmospherical waters overflowed the land, or its plants and animals perished under the scorching heat. The insect tribe was wonderfully called into life, as if animated beings were destined to complete the destruction which astral and telluric powers had begun. Thus did this dreadful work of nature advance from year to year; it was a progressive infection of the zones, which exerted a powerful influence both above and beneath the surface of the earth ; and after having been perceptible in slighter indications, at the commencement of the terrestrial commotions in China, convulsed the whole earth.1
Observers have remarked that in many instances the lower animals were strangely affected, and that fatal disease among them either preceded, accompanied, or followed the Black Death. Cutteis, for example, says,' Rapacious wolves howled around the walls of the cities by night and sated themselves with human blood, though not by hiding in secret places, but by openly bursting into the houses and tearing the children from the breasts of their mothers. And not only did the children suffer from their cruel teeth, but even well-armed men, and they also devoured many bodies by digging up the graves of the dead. They seemed not to be wolves, but demons. Cuckoos and owls, sitting on the housetops by night, used to utter dismal sounds; bats in swarms on the houses, and while building their nests in the roofs, made a strange noise; crows without number, flying about by day over the country, croaked ominously; kites and vultures in great crowds, while soaring in the air, gave vent to doleful cries; and many other birds in the woods, and difler-ent brute beasts, coming from their lairs, wandered about the country in great multitudes, giving many extraordinary signs of evil import. ... In the first place, a virulent plague broke among the brute animals. Scab and leprosy attacked horses, oxen, sheep, and goats, so that the hair fell from oft' their bodies,
1 A portion of this description is taken from Hecker's admirable History of the Epidemics of the Middle Ages, translated by Dr Babington, and published by the Sydenham Society.
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and they became emaciated and weak, and after a few days died. Then this fearful pest rushed onwards in its terrific course through the whole world, and raged against miserable man in a most deadly manner/ 1
At Rome, at the same time as mankind, cats and dogs, fowls, and all other animals, became sick and died.2 At Gaza, 3a,ooo people and most of the animals were carried off in less than six weeks.3 f As it (the Sorte Diod) advanced, not only men but animals fell sick and shortly expired, if they had touched things belonging to the diseased or dead. Thus Boccaccio himself saw, at Florence, two hogs on the rags of a person who had died of plague, and which, after staggering about for a short time, fell down dead, as if they had taken poison. ' What gave the more virulence to this plague was that, by being communicated from the sick to the hale, it spread daily, like fire when it comes in contact with large masses of combustibles. Nor was it caught only by conversing with or coming near the sick, but even by touching their clothes, or anything that they had before touched. It is wonderful what I am going to mention, and had I not seen it with my own eyes, and were there not many witnesses to attest it beside myself, I should never venture to relate it, however worthy it were of belief. Such, I say, was the quality of the pestilential matter, as to pass not only from man to man, but, what is more strange, it has been often known that anything belonging to the infected, if touched by other creatures, would certainly infect, and even kill, that creature in a short space of time. One instance of this kind I took particular notice of. The rags of a poor man just dead had been thrown into the street; two hogs came up, and after rooting about amongst these rags, and shaking them about in their mouths, in less than an hour they both turned round and died on the spot.J 4
In other places, multitudes of dogs, cats, fowls, and other animals fell victims to the contagion;5 and it is to be presumed,
1nbsp; nbsp;Cutteis. In Farlato Illyricum Sacrum, vol. iii. Frari, Op. cit. p. 314.
2nbsp;Metaxa. Op. cit. Vol. ii. p. 141.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;, 3 Hecker. Op. cit. 4 Boccaccio. Decameron, Giomo i. introd.
6 Auger, de Bittcris. Vitas Romanor. Pontificum Muratori. Scrip, vol. iii. P- 556.
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remarks Hecker, that other epizootics among animals likewise took place, although the ignorant writers of the 14th century are silent on this point.1 'Thus did the plague spread over England with unexampled rapidity after it had first broken out in the county of Dorset, whence it advanced through the counties of Devon and Somerset to Bristol, and thence reached Gloucester, Oxford, and London. Probably few places escaped, perhaps not any, for the annals of contemporaries report that throughout the
land only a tenth part of the inhabitants remained alive.....
Ireland was much less heavily visited than England. The disease seems to have scarcely reached the mountainous districts of that kingdom. And Scotland, too, would perhaps have remained free, had not the Scots availed themselves of the discomfiture of the English to make an irruption into their territory, which terminated in the destruction of their army by the plague and by the sword, and the extension of the pestilence, through those who had escaped, over the whole country. At the commencement, there was in England a superabundance of all the necessaries of life; but the plague, which seemed then to be the sole disease, was accompanied by a fatal murrain among the cattle. Wandering about without their herdsmen, they fell by thousands; and, as has likewise been observed in Africa, the birds and beasts of prey are said not to have touched them. Of what nature this murrain may have been, can no more be determined than whether it originated from communication with plague patients or from other causes j but thus much is certain, that it did not break out until after the commencement of the Black Death/
In consequence of this murrain, and the impossibility of
1 Hccker. The knowledge of contagion, especially as applied to an understanding of the diffusion of pestilential maladies, seems in the Middle Ages to have been very exact and comprehensive. Hecker, in treating of this Black Plague of the 14th century, incidentally speaks of Gentilis of Foligno, a celebrated physician, who fell a victim to that disease while attending to the sick. He says of him : ' He believed in a progressive infection from country to country, according to the notions of the present day ; and the contagious power of the disease, even in the vicinity of those affected by the plague, was, in his opinion, beyond all doubt (venenosa pictredo circa paries cordis ei pulmonis de quibtis exeicnte venenoso vapore, periculum est in vicinitatibus). On this point intelligent contemporaries were all agreed.'— The Epidemics of the Middle Ages.
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removing the corn from the fields, there was everywhere a great rise in the price of tood, which to many was inexplicable, because the harvest had been plentiful. By others it was attributed to the wicked designs of the labourers and dealers; but it really had its foundation in the actual deficiency arising from circumstances by which individual classes at all times endeavour to profit. For a whole year, until it terminated in August, 1349, the Black Plague prevailed in this beautiful island, and everywhere poisoned the springs of comfort and prosperity.1 The diseased cattle were slaughtered, and infected herds were as much as possible separated from those which were sound, while the herdsmen who attended the former were not allowed to come near the latter. ' In the same year there was a great plague amongsheep {lues ovium) in every part of the kingdom (England), so that in one pasture-land alone more than 5000 died, and their carcases were so putrid that neither beast nor bird would touch them.'2 Barnes says of the epizoöty: 'And first, by occasion of the plague, the cattle, for want of men to look to them, wandered about in fields at random, from whence nobody drove or gathered them, so that they began to perish among hedges and ditches in such numbers, that it was no less loss than wonder to behold; for there died, in and about one pasture, more than 5000 sheep. Wherefore it might be supposed that they also died in this manner, through some kind of plague that was as stransre and unaccountable amoug them as the former had been to mankind; for it is said that neither beast nor bird of prey would touch the carcases. And this is another instance that the late pestilence doth yet differ from those of other times, since usuallv beasts, by reason of their prone looks downwards on the earth, and their quicker scent therewithal, are first infected, but here it happened quite contrary. However, there shortly ensued hereby such a scarcity of cattle, that all provisions
1nbsp; Hecker, who quotes from Barnes and Wood. This learned author informs us, on good authority, that 'after the cessation of the Black Plague, a greater fecundity in women was everywhere remarkable—a grand phenomenon, which, from its occurrence after a very destructive pestilence, proves to conviction, if any occurrence can do so, the prevalence of a higher power in the direction of general organic life.'
2nbsp; Henry de Knyghton, Op. cit. Twysden. P. 2598.
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of flesh became excessively dear, as well as other beasts for use and labour. Whereas, in the plague time, partly through their great abundance, and partly, also, because, through the present apprehension of death, men were then less intent upon gain, a good horse, worth forty shillings before, might be bought for a mark; a large fat ox for four shillings, a cow for one shilling, a heifer for sixpence, a fat mutton for fourpence, a sheep for twopence, a lamb for twopence, one stone of wool for nir;epence, and other things went at the same rate in England. But now the state of affairs was altered; and, besides the prodigious decay of cattle aforesaid, there succeeded also a great dearth of corn in many parts of the world, not so much through any defect or parsimony of Nature (for the fields were sufficiently clothed with grain in many parts, especially here in England), as partly through an inordinate desire of gain in some, and also partly from the want of men in most places to gather it.'1
Adam Murimuth, for the year 1348 (but in reality for 1349), after noticing the unusual fall of rain that occurred in that year, and which continued night and day for a long time, adds: cAt which time a great mortality took place among men throughout the land, beginning in the south and extending northwards, and with such slaughter that scarcely one-half of the inhabitants remained. In certain relitrious houses two alone survived out of twenty; and, according to some, it destroyed a tenth part of all the inhabitants. It was followed by a plague among animals (E vestigia lues anvmalium est secuta); then the remaining people perished j and the land, robbed of the people who cultivated it, remained sterile, and such great misery followed that the land could never after recover its former state.'2
Speed only says with regard to the mortality of cattle succeeding the epidemy: ' It rained from midsummer til! Christmas; and so terrible a plague ran through the world, that the earth was filled with graves and the air with cries, which was seconded with murren of cattle and dearth of all things.'3
^Barnes. The History of King Edward III. Cambridge, 1688, p. 440. For the revolution in the system of agriculture which this grave pestilence occasioned, see J. E. T. Rogers. A History of Agriculture and Prices in England. Oxford, 1866.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;2 Adami Murimuth. Chronica.
3 Speed. The Historie of Great Britaine. London, 1632, p. 694.
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In the bailifl's of Standon's accounts there is the entry for this year : 'Defectus propter pestilentiam hoc anno;' and forWellow, ' High price of tar and fat^ due to pestilence, defectus servientium et magyia viortalitas garcionum in patria.'1
Through the courtesy of Henry Harrod, Esq., F.S.A., I am enabled to refer to a paper read by him before the Society of Antiquaries, and entitled 'Details of a Murrain of the Fourteenth Century, from the Court Rolls of a Norfolk Manor,'2 which will give the student of English epizooties some idea of the losses incidental to an estate at this period, from what were, in those days, when the nature of animal diseases was scarcely known, termed f murrains.5 The details extend over a period of 63 years; and it is evident that many and various maladies must have been grouped under the vague but terrible denomination. It is but right to mention here that there is no proof whatever that the disease affecting the cattle was the Cattle Plague. On the contrary, there is every probability that it was not that malady, from the fact that during this long period almost every kind of domestic animal was affected, and the loss in cattle was never sufficiently great in any one year; while sheep appear to have been the principal sufferers. And there was not one murrain during this long period, but very many ; and no doubt the majority of the deaths were due to enzoötic, and, in part, to sporadic affections. However, the account is sufficiently interesting to find a place here, as it may in some degree furnish us with assistance in obtaining a key to the ravages of murrains and their nature in the early centuries of British agriculture, when oxen were so poor and badly fed that six of them were required to draw the rude iron plough-share, and scarcely half an acre could be turned up in a long day's work.
Mr Harrod relates as follows: ' In looking over some Court Rolls of the Manor of Heacham, in the county of Norfolk, I met with some particulars of the murrain during the reigns of Edward III., Richard II., and Henry IV., which I have ex-
1nbsp; Rogers. Op. cit.
2nbsp; The Archasologia, vol. xli. 1866. A large portion of this interesting communication I am reluctantly compelled to omit; but the comparative pachologist will find himself well rewarded by a perusal of the Appendix A and B.
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tracted, and by the courtesy of the solicitors of Mr Le Strange, the present lord, I am permitted to bring them before the society.
'The accounts taken were extremely minute and careful, and the particulars of the live stock showed all the additions, sales, and losses of every description during the year ending at Michaelmas. To assist the auditors in testing the accounts of the bailiff, the presentments of the losses by murrain appear to have been made on oath at the Manor Courts; another reason, probably, was to absolve the shepherds, who were bond tenants of the manor, from liability on account of the losses when not happening from want of proper care on their part.
'The presentments on the Court Roll commence in the 21st year of Edward III., 1347, and whatever may have been the case in other parts, in this corner of the kingdom the murrain seems to have continued more or less severely during the rest of the reign of Edward III., during the entire reign of Richard II., and until the 13th year of Henry IV., a period of 63 years.
' The bailiffs' accounts for the whole of this period have not been preserved; a portion of them only remains; and from this I have gleaned a few particulars to assist in explaining the entries on the rolls.
' The stock account for the 33rd year of Edward III. shows that at that time there were upon the farm 12 horses and stots (I have treated the animals described ' stots' as horses—not because I believe them to be so in every case where the word is used, but because the Stock Accounts of this Manor clearly designate the horses so),1 53 head of cattle, and 7 calves, 733 sheep, and 140 lambs.
1 The word ' stot' is used in the Scotch lowlands to designate a .bullock. I never heard of the term being employed for horses in recent times. In Sir David Lyndsay, however, as well as in Chaucer, horses are so named ; and the designation is evidently derived from beyond the border. Chaucer, in the fourteenth century, the period of our Court Roll, when describing the steward's appearance in the Canterbury Pilgrimage, testifies to this :
' This Reeve sat upon a right good stot. That was all pomeleegray (dappled gray) and highte (high-bred) Scot.'
Stot is supposed by Richardson, in his Dictionary of the English Language, to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon ' stod-hors,' and is of course only applicable to
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' In that of the 18th year of Richard II. there were 10 horses, 46 head of cattle, and 8 calves, 374 sheep, and 70 lambs.
' I have been unable to find any later accounts of Richard II. or any of Henry IV.
' The great pestilence commenced in London in November, 1348, and the chroniclers generally state that the murrain amongst the cattle commenced at or about the same time, but the first presentment I find about it in the Heacham Court Rolls fixes the commencement of it in that manor in August, 1346, more than two years before.
' This presentment, which was at a Court held the Monday after the feast of the Invention of the Cross, in the 31st year of Edward III., is to the following effect:—quot;Demurina, jurati presentant quod unus bos, tres boviculi, unus stottus, unus hur-tardus, tres multones, tres oves matrices, et quinque hogastri moriebantur inter Gulam Augusti et diem hujus curiaecasualiter et non ob defectum alicujus custodie. Item quod sex porculi similiter moriebantur in hyeme non ob defectum, amp;;c. Item quod septcm porcelli in hyeme similiter, amp;c.quot;
' Little more than another month had elapsed when another Court was held on the Thursday after the feast of St Barnabas, when the following presentment appears:—quot;De murina, jurati presentant quod una vacca post vitulacionem circa festum Sancte Trinitatis moriebatur, unus vitulus similiter moriebatur, septem multones ante tonsionem, novem oves matrices ante tonsionem et agnelacionem, novem hoggastri ante tonsionem, et .'riginti et sex agni et octo porculi similiter non ob defectum, amp;c.quot;
' But it is not my intention to place the whole mass of these presentments before you. I have appended a number of them sufficient to show the character of them to this paper—(these extracts include the whole of the entries of murrain for the 21st
horses. He, however, admits that it also refers to oxen, being obtained from the Swedish ' stut Sand Danish ' stud,' a steer. Piers Ploughman writes
' Grace of his goodnesse, gaf Peers foure stottes.'
Rogers (Hist. Agric.) affirms that stotts were the small rough horses sometimes called 'affiri' in medieval husbandry.—G. F.
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and 39th years of Edward III., the nth and 22nd of Richard II., and the 8th and 9th of Henry IV. It is as well, however, that I should state that every presentment on the Rolls relating to murrain was extracted, and remains in my possession, so that the figures of the general statement can be tested at any time)— and will now merely state that during the 21st year of Edward III. there appears to have died on this farm i horse, 7 bullocks, 2cows, a calf, 48 sheep and 36 lambs, 3 sows, and 43 pigs.
' In the 22nd year, 1 horse, 5 bullocks, a cow, 3 calves, 60 sheep, and 40 lambs.
* In the 23rd year, the year of the pestilence, there is but one presentment, recording the death of n ewes and 6 pigs.
'In the following year but a single death, that of a ewe, and in the 25th year nothing whatever, and it might fairly be supposed to have ended. The Rolls for this year and the 29th are not complete; and, since the above was written, a small fragment of one of this year, with the remains of a murrain entry on it, has been found, but too much decayed to make out anything but the marginal note. In the 26th year it begins again, commits more havoc in the 27th year, but less again in the 28th, and the 29th year is again a blank; once more it is rife in the 30th ; and in the 31st, 129 sheep and 96 Iambs are on the death roll j it has again nearly spent itself in the 35th year, but deaths bv it continue in each successive year; and in the 39th the numbers rise again to 152 sheep and 190 Iambs. In the nth year of Richard II. 143 sheep and 113 Iambs died.
'During all this time other cattle suffered, but not at all in like proportion to the sheep.
'The effect of its ravages will be better understood by the statement I have carefully prepared from the presentments, which shows the total of deaths of each kind of stock in every year during the continuance of the murrain. It will be seen from it that so late as the 8th year of Henry IV., 8 bullocks, 13 cows, and 66 sheep died, and the account closes in the 13th year with a sow and 3 pigs.
' It will be seen, too, from this account, that among the sheep, the Iambs, ewes, and hoggets were most affected by it, and the calves and cows more in proportion than the other stock.
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