CHAPTER VI
THE FEVER CALLED LENTICULAE OR PUNCTICULAE'7

There are also other fevers, which, in & manner of speaking,
come midway between the truly pestilent and the non—pestilent,
for though many die of them, many recover. 'They are con—
tagious, and hence partake of the nature of pestilent fevers, but
they are regularly called malignant rather than pestilent. Of
this sort were those fevers which in 1505 and 1528 appeared
for the first time in Italy, and had not been previously known
there in our time. 'They are however familiar in certain parts
of the world, for instance in Cyprus and the neighboring islands,
and were also known to our ancestors.  They are vulgarly called
enticulae' (small lentils), or 'puncticulae' (small pricks), be—
cause they produce spots which look like lentils or flea—bites.
Others spell the name differently, and call them *'peticulae'.
We must study them carefully, because nowadays, too, they
are frequently observed, not only as affecting many at once,
but also as special cases, in individuals. Instances have been
observed of persons who went from Italy to other countries
where no fever of this sort existed, and died of it there, as though
they had carried the infection with them. 'This happened to
that very celebrated and learned man Andrea Navagero,'8
ambassador from the illustrious Republic of Venice to the King
of France, some years ago. For he died of this disease in a&
province where that sort of malady was not known, even by
name. He was a man of such learning and genius that no great—
er loss to letters has been incurred for many a year.

'This fever, then, is contagious, but it does not infect quickly
or by means of fomes, or at a distance, but only from the actual
handling of the sick. 'Though in the early stages all pestilent
fevers are gentle and mild, this sort invades so very gently that
the sick are hardly willing to call in a doctor. Hence many
doctors have been deceived at first; they expected a resolution
of the malady in a little while, and so provided no remedy

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