Cattle Plague. 625 



arrested inspiration, followed by an expiratory moan, and by an 

 early and very high mortality. 



Historic Notes. As the most rapidly developing and deadly of 

 the cattle plagues, this attracted the greatest attention of people 

 in earlier times, and thus its inva,sious and ravages can be more 

 satisfactorily identified, than those of the tardier and somewhat 

 less deadly lung plague which usually followed in its wake. 



Sauctus Severus and Vegetius Renatus indicate its advent into 

 Western Asia on the borders of the Caspian and Black Seas, coin- 

 cident with the irruption of the Mongols in the first Christian 

 century. It still prevails in China and adjoining countries, in- 

 cluding Hindoostan, and since that date the Steppes near the 

 Black aiid Caspian Seas have been looked on as the perennial 

 home of the plague. Before 376, A. D., the chronicles of epi- 

 zootics in Europe suggest anthrax affections which prevailed 

 widely in man and beast, and since that time the special plagues 

 of cattle come into prominence. At this date the Huns began a 

 great onward movement from the region of the Caspian and Black 

 seas into Dacia (Hungary), Northern Italy, Germany and Gaul, 

 and this was the occasion for a general diffusion of Rinderpest 

 over these countries. 



After this date cattle plague .spread widely on the occasion of 

 any great European war in which the eastern nations were involved 

 or which was so general or continued as to draw upon Ea.stern Eu- 

 rope for the supply of the commisariat parks. One great epizootic 

 culminated in 810 after the wars of Charlemagne; one occurred in 

 820 in connection with invasion of Hungary by the Franco-Ger- 

 man army; one in 1223 to 1225 laid waste Central Europe and 

 is said to have reached Great Britain ; in 1233-4 it again gained a 

 wide extension following the invasion by hosts of Mongols from 

 Siberia; great extensions are recorded in Italy in 1616 and 1625 

 during the 30 years' war; in 1709 Charles XII wintered with his 

 army in the Ukraine and his return was followed by the most dis- 

 astrous mortality ever .seen in Europe and which lasted from 17 10 

 to 1717. This reached England in 1714 and was there stamped 

 out by killing and burning the sick, disinfecting the buildings 

 and closing up the infected pastures. Paulet claims that Europe 

 lo.st 1,500,000 head of cattle in the first three years of this in- 

 vasion. It continued more or le.ss prevalent in the eastern coun- 

 40 



