Of the Pestilence.
THe Pestilence is a contagious disease, proceeding, as Pelaganius saith, sometime of overmuch labour, heat, cold, hunger, and sometime of sudden running after long rest, or of the reten∣tion or holding of stale or urine; or of drinking cold water whiles the Horse is hot and sweating; for all these things do breed corrupt humors in the Horses body, whereof the Pestilence doth chiefly proceed, or else of the corruption of the air, poisoning the breath whereby the Beasts should live, which also happeneth sometime of the corruption of evill vapors and exhalations that spring out of the earth, and after great floods or earthquakes, and sometime by means of some evill distillation or influence of the Planets, corrupting sometime the plants and fruits of the earth▪ and sometime divers kind of Cattle, and sometime both Men, Women and Children, as we dayly see by experience. It seemeth that this evill or mischief in times past came suddenly, without giving any warning, for none of mine Authors doth declare any signes how to know whether a Horse hath this disease or not, but only affirm, that if one Horse do die of it, all his fellows that bear him com∣pany will follow after, if they be not remedied in time: so that as far as I can learn, the sudden death of one or two first, must be the only mean to know that this disease doth reign. And the remedy that they give is this; First separate the whole from the sick; yea, and have them 〈◊〉〈◊〉 out of the air of those that be dead, the bodies whereof, as Vegetius saith, if they be not 〈◊〉〈◊〉 buryed, will infect all the rest. And let them bloud as well in the neck, as in the mouth▪ and then give them this drink, Take of Gentian, of Aristoloch, of Bay 〈…〉〈…〉es▪ of 〈…〉〈…〉 of the scraping of Ivory, of each like quantity, beat them into fine powder, and give as 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to the sick as to the whole, whom you would preserve from this co••tagion, every day a spoonful 〈◊〉〈◊〉 two of this powder in a pinte of good Wine, so long as you shall see it needful. This 〈◊〉〈◊〉 before rehearsed, is called of the ancient writers Diapente, that is to say, a composition 〈…〉〈…〉 simples, and is praised to be a soveraign medicine and preservative against all inward diseases, and therefore they would have such as travell by the way, to carry of this powder alwayes 〈◊〉〈◊〉 them.
There be many other medicines which I leave to write, because if I should rehearse every 〈◊〉〈◊〉 medicine, my book would be infinite; I for my part would use no other then that before expressed, or else Wine and Treacle only.