THE 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XV, No. 173.] MAY 1842. [New Series, No. 5. 
ON EPIZOOTIC DISEASES. 
By Mr. You att. 
[Continued from p 169.] 
TWO hundred years now pass without the record of any ex- 
traordinary mortality ; when mention is made of an epidemic in 
a . d . 570, which destroyed almost all the horned cattle in France 
and Italy. Eleven years afterwards it appeared with new and 
increased violence, and, according to Gregory of Tours, would have 
annihilated the whole breed of cattle, had it not been for the pre- 
servative influence emanating from the shrine of St. Martin. A 
portion of the oil from the lamps which burned before the shrine 
of this saint was administered to the biped and the quadruped 
patients. Some of this oil was also used externally. It lubri- 
cated the various passages — it calmed the pain which the patient 
suffered — it softened the tumours that appeared on various parts, 
and disposed them to suppurate — it corrected the virus which was 
accumulated within and irritating the intestinal passages — and 
the lees or sediment of it was also spread over the pastures to 
purify and preserve them. The first words of the prayer made 
use of on this occasion — “ Mihi beate Martine” — are not for- 
gotten at the present day. The protection of St. Martin having 
been thus invoked, another ceremony was performed with great 
solemnity. A red-hot key, belonging to the Church of St. 
Martin, was applied to the foreheads of the sound and the dis- 
eased horses and cattle, and the first were preserved from con- 
tagion, and the latter rescued from impending death. This super- 
stition is still prevalent in many countries, and particularly in 
the south of France, as a remedy for the turnsick in sheep. 
Ten years after this, another epidemic prevailed in the south of 
France, which spared neither man nor beast. Not only the oxen 
and sheep were destroyed, but even the deer in the parks were 
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