226 History of Animal Plagues. 



ternal cause of these fevers was viscid and tenacious humours, 

 hardly able to be separated ; but that the external cause was in 

 the impurity of the land from the copious showers and over- 

 flowing of the rivers, the whole country appearing flooded, 

 whence the herbage became noxious and injurious. From this 

 cause, also, diseases in animals, destruction to trees, and blight in 

 corn ensued; for nitro-sulphureous particles continually rose and 

 destroyed all growing fruits by burning them up.'^ 



In Spain and Portugal a great drought prevailed, which 

 proved very destructive to the animal and vegetable kingdoms. 

 Kanold writes : ' I am informed that in Portugal, in consequence 

 of the long winter, which was very severe, and the continued 

 dry east wind, which lasted until the month of February, as well 

 as from the scarcity of water and grass, a large number of sheep 

 and lambs died. The drought was so great in the provinces of 

 Alemtejo and Algarve, in Spain, that not only the best springs 

 were dried up (a circumstance which had not occurred for many 

 years), but in many places in the same country, the water for 

 the daily necessities of men and cattle was sold by measure, so 

 that many villages in La Mancha were totally abandoned by 

 their inhabitants.^ ^ 



The diseases of the lower animals were very prevalent in 

 every country, and more especially in those places where the 

 Cattle Plague had been allowed to spread by endeavouring to 

 treat it medicinally. The chief maladies, however, according 

 to Kanold, were due to the morbid constitution of the atmo- 

 sphere. In Silesia, for example, he describes a disease which 

 broke out there. ' The cattle suffered most from purging, but 

 they also at the same time slavered much, and a foul mucus 

 discharge from nose and eyes was noticed. Languor, loss 

 of appetite, emaciation, and loss of milk, were the usual symp- 

 toms. Pregnant cattle aborted, but not for some time; often 

 not for from eight to ten weeks, and those which did so died 

 of the disease. As a rule, death did not take place quickly, 

 but the animals lingered on frequently for several weeks. 

 Nevertheless, in consequence of the disease being contagious, 



1 Ephem. Nat. Cur. loc. cit., p. 12. - Kanold. Jahreshistorie, p. 253. 



