Boccaccio, in the introduction to his (Decani eron,) has given a vivid description of its phys ical and moral effects in Florence in 1348. In the 15th century it raged in Europe on several occasions, and was accompanied with dreadful sufferings. The historians of that time give ter rible pictures of distress. London suffered se verely both at the beginning of the century and again in 1428, while a serious outbreak took place in 1472 and subsequent years. In the 16th century the plague again raged, and in 1563 was introduced into England by the return of an English army from the Continent. Though some means were already taken against the plague— for instance, lazarettos built— yet it raged in Europe on various occasions and in different countries during the 17th century. Holland suffered from it in 1603; in the same year Egypt lost by it about 1,000,000 of its in habitants. In 1630 Milan was ravaged by it; in 1635-37 Holland again suffered; in 1656 Italy had a dreadful visitation, during which 300,000 persons are said to have died in Naples, 60,000 in Genoa, but only 14,030 in Rome, owing to superior sanitary measures and precautions. On this occasion it spread also to Spain, Germany and Holland. In 1603, 1625, 1636 and 1665 It made great ravages in England. In 1603 there are said to have been 38,000 deaths in London; in 1625, 35,000; in 1636, over 10,000; while 1665 is known as the year of the °great plague) in London, so graphically described, with perhaps some coloring, by Defoe. During the year the deaths are given at nearly one-seventh of the population. The disease spread somewhat widely over the country both in this and the following year. The cessation of the plague in London was attributed to the great fire, and though this no doubt had its local effect, still there was a similar disappearance of the epi demic not long after this time in western Europe.
In 1679 Vienna lost 76,000 of its citizens by this scourge; in 1681 Prague lost 83,000• and various German cities suffered severely. Early in the 18th century the plague caused many deaths in eastern and central Europe, the num ber in Prussia and Lithuania being set down at 283,000. On this occasion it extended its rav ages into northern Europe, Copenhagen and Stockhohn having both suffered, the latter to the extent of 40,000 deaths. In Constantinople and other places in the Levant it frequently raged during this century, and in 1720-21 Mar seilles and part of southern France were rav aged by the epidemic brought from this quar ter. The deaths in Marseilles alone are said to have numbered from 40,000 to 60,000; thousands of corpses lay unbu:ied in the streets. In 1770 it raged in Moldavia, Wallachia, Poland and other adjacent regions, and in 1771 it carried off over 40,000 persons in Moscow, or one fourth of the whole population. During the 19th century it made itself felt on several occa sions in Constantinople and other parts of east ern Europe, in Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Persia, Egypt and northern Africa, but nowhere did it affect a very wide area. In 1834-35 great mortality was caused in Egypt. It also carried off many thousands in Mesopo tamia between 1873 and 1877. In 1878-79 the plague made its appearance on the lower Volga, where it caused a considerable number of deaths.
India has often been visited by this terrible disease, and hundreds of thousands have at va rious times succumbed to it in that country. In
September 1896, several cases were recognized in Bombay. and during the succeeding nine months the disease raged in the city with such severity that the majority of the inhabitants fled to neighboring towns and villages. Poona and Karachi were attacked by the end of 1896, and the disease also spread to more distant parts. A special commission of experts was appointed by the Indian government, and vigor ous measures, such as house-to-house visitation, thorough disinfection, and enforced isolation, were adopted. The native municipality of Bombay was for plague purposes superseded by a plague committee. In February 1897, an in ternational sanitary conference regarding the plague sat at Vienna, and after discussion came to the conclusion that the disease was caused by a bacillus discovered in 1894 by Kitasato and Yersin. They also gave countenance to the view that rats, mice and certain other animals, which were liable to attack, probably contrib uted largely to spread the disease. Bombay was again visited by a serious epidemic in the au tumn of 1897, which reached a climax in Feb ruary of the following year, when the deaths from plague numbered 250 per day. This out break also spread to other parts of India, espe cially in the Bombay presidency, but it was vir tually over by June. The sanitary measures of the authorities came into collision with native beliefs and prejudices at various points, and on 9 May 1898 serious riots broke out in Bombay and elsewhere. This led the government to abandon all the more stringent and severe of their preventive measures. and the fact that no harm resulted from their action seemed to jus tify the statement that the disease takes its own course whatever may be done. Calcutta was first visited by the plague on 16 April 1898, and soon a considerable number of cases were re ccrded. Bangalore and some other places in southern India suffered severely, and in August, Bombay was again seriously affected. This re newed outbreak passed off in due course only to be succeeded by another, extending from February to July 1899. In 1899 Calcutta was revisited, and other parts of India still con tinued to lose many lives by this scourge. The plague reached Madagascar in November 1899, and this is the first authentic record of its ap pearance south of the equator. It was soon afterward reported from Reunion, Mauritius, German and Portuguese East Africa, and West Africa. In July of that year some Spanish sailors arriving at Oporto died of the plague, and it also carried off others in this part of Portugal. The first instance of the plague in the New World was recorded from Brazil in No vember 1899. Early in 1900 the first case of it was recorded in Australia, but by September that country was practically free from the dis ease. It has since visited South Africa, and in 1900 there were a few cases at Glasgow. The spread of the plague in India during recent years is shown by the following official figures : In 1897 there were 56,000 recorded deaths; in 1900, 93,000; in 1901, 274,000; in 1902, 577,000. the single month of March 1903 no less than 136,000 in that country perished from this disease. No city with modern sanitation has suffered from the plague in the 20th century.