rt, Italy had already begun to
organize the various elements of the modern spirit, and to set the
fashion whereby the other great nations should learn and live.

THE BLACK DEATH RAVAGES EUROPE

A.D. 1348

J. F. C. HECKER[51] GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO

Different parts of the oriental world have been mentioned as
the probable locality of the first appearance of the plague
or pestilence known as the "black death," but its origin is
most generally referred to China, where, at all events, it
raged violently about 1333, when it was accompanied at its
outbreak by terrestrial and atmospheric phenomena of a
destructive character, such as are said to have attended the
first appearance of Asiatic cholera and other spreading and
deadly diseases; from which it has been conjectured that
through these convulsions deleterious foreign substances may
have been projected into the atmosphere.

But while for centuries the nature and causes of the black
death have been subjects of medical inquiry in all
countries, it remained for our own time to discover a more
scientific explanation than those previously advanced. The
malady is now identified by pathologists with the bubonic
plague, which at intervals still afflicts India and other
oriental lands, and has in recent years been a cause of
apprehension at more than one American seaport.

It is called _bubonic_--from the Greek _boubon_
("groin")--because it attacks the lymphatic glands of the
groins, armpits, neck, and other parts of the body. Among
its leading symptoms are headache, fever, vertigo, vomiting,
prostration, etc., with dark purple spots or a mottled
appearance upon the skin. Death in severe cases usually
occurs within forty-eight hours. Bacteriologists are now
generally agreed that the disorder is due to a bacillus
identified by investigators both in India and in western
countries.

The first historic appearance of the black death in Europe
was at Constantinople, A.D. 543. But far more widespread and
terrible were its ravages in the fourteenth century, when
they were almost world-wide. Of the dreadful visitation in
Europe then, we are fortunate to have the striking account
of Dr. Hecker, which follows.

The name "black death" was given to the disease in the more
northern parts of Europe--from the dark spots on the skin
above mentioned--while in Italy it was called _la mortalega
grande_ (