352 THE EARLY HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 
treats of nothing but mange and canker in the ear; the other 
diseases of dogs are either passed over in silence, or described 
very incompletely. Rabies itself, of the communication of which 
man was in continual danger, was known in a very superficial 
manner; and human physicians merit much reproach, in not 
having, at that period, bestowed sufficient attention on this 
malady, which was observed in populous cities, as well as in 
deserts, and which was, even then, of ancient origin. We read 
with astonishment, that the veterinary surgeons regarded rabies 
as curable, and that this opinion prevailed so late as the thir¬ 
teenth century. A writer of inferior merit, who lived at that 
period, and w'ho is unworthy of the name of Demetrius Pepa- 
gomenus, which some have wrongly bestowed on him, confi¬ 
dently recommends a drink composed of a decoction of the root 
of the wild rose, as a cure for rabies in the dog. The same 
author proposes to prevent madness by the excision of a ver¬ 
miform substance found beneath the tongue, and which is, even 
at the present day, the popular belief. It is needless to detain 
the reader longer with similar opinions of this anonymous author, 
nor with his prescriptions against bewitchment of the dog. 
We regard, as much more worthy of our attention, the details 
which veterinary writers of the thirteenth century have given us 
of the treatment of the diseases of falcons, the use of which for 
sporting purposes began to be introduced into Europe at the 
return of the Crusaders. Demetrius of Constantinople, probably 
the same with the true Demetrius Pepagomenus, a distinguished 
physician attached to the court of the Emperor Paleologus, has 
written a work on this subject which may be regarded as a model 
for veterinary authors, at least considering the age in which he 
lived. He describes with much exactness many catarrhal af¬ 
fections of falcons, a kind of disease which evidently prevails 
among birds, on account of the great development of their 
respiratory organs, and which assume even more severe and 
fatal characters than in the human being. He enumerates the 
causes of these diseases with great care, and prescribes, in a very 
pleasing style, an excellent mode of treating them. 
We also find in this work some instructive remarks on inflam- 
