Dr. B. R. AMBEDKAR UNIVERSITY AUTHOR: TITLE: Dr. B. R. AMBEDKAR OPEN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY HYDERABAD-500 033 RATS, LICE, AND HISTORY Dr. B. R. AMBEDKAR OPEN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ' Call No. : = Accession ' _J /Vo.// 4* Author; no. .. This book should be returned on or before the dat last marked below. RATS, LICE, AND HISTORY Being a Study in Biography, which, after Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensable for the Preparation of the Lay Reader, Deals with the Life History of TYPHUS FEVER Also known, at various stages of its Adventurous Career, as Morbus pulicaris (Cardanus, 1545); Tabardiglio y puntos (DeToro, 1574); Pinfas; Febris pur- purea epidemica (Coyttarus, 1578); Febris quam lenticulas vel puncticulas vacant (Fracastorius, 1546); Morbus hungaricus; La Pourpre; Pipercorn; Febris petechialis vcra; Febris maligna pestilens; Febris putrida ct ma/tgna; Typhus carcerorum; Jayl Fever; Fievre des hopitaux; Pcstis bcllica; Morbus castremis; Famine Fever; Irish Ague; Typhus cxanthematicus; Faulfieber; Hauptkrank- heit; Pcstartigc Eraune; Exanthematisches Nervcnfiebcr, and so forth, and so forth. By HANS ZINSSER LONDON: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & BROADWAY HOUSE, 68-74 CARTER and F*rint*d *n C^reat Britain by RERClY LUNO, H L; NtfHKI Kii sf CO. LTD. 12 This book is dedicated in affectionate friendship to Charles Nicolle, scientist^ novelist, and 'philosopher PREFACE THESE chapters we hesitate to call so rambling a per- formance a book were written at odd moments as a relaxation from studies of typhus fever in the laboratory and in the field. In following infectious diseases about the world, one ends by regarding them as biological individ- uals which have lived through centuries, spanning many generations of men and having existences which, in their developments and wanderings, can be treated biograph- ically. Typhus fever lends itself more than most others to such treatment because of its extraordinary parasitic cycles in the insect and animal worlds, the salient facts of which have all been elucidated within the last ten years. In no other infection does the bacteriologist find so favour- able an opportunity for study of the evolution of a para- sitism. Moreover, in its tragic relationship to mankind this disease is second to none not even to plague or to chol- era. In the course of many years of preoccupation with in- fectious diseases, which has- taken us alternately into the seats of biological warfare and into the laboratory, we have become increasingly impressed with the importance almost entirely neglected by historians and sociologists of the influence of these calamities upon the fate of nations, indeed upon the rise and fall of civilizations. viii PREFACE The chapters which deal with this phase of our subject represent little more than preliminary notes. They may serve to stimulate future historians, who possess the learn- ing which we lack, to give these factors the attention which they merit and to interpolate their effects into the interpretations of the past history of mankind. In no sense can we claim to have made any original contributions to the history of medicine. We have taken information where we could find it, and have freely used the works of such profound scholars as Schnurrer, Hecker, Ozanam, Haeser, Hirsch, Murchison, and others. In consulting ancient and mediaeval texts our meagre classical learning was re-enforced by the charitable good nature of our colleagues Professors Gulick and Rand, of our friend Dr. Charles Lund, and by the enthusiastic interest of Mr. C. T. Murphy of the Harvard Classical Department. Conversation and correspondence with Professor Sigerist of Johns Hopkins, Professor Merriman of Harvard, Ma- jor Hume of the United States Army, and many others have brought us invaluable aid in critical places. We owe a particular debt of gratitude to our wise and kindly friend, Professor W. Morton Wheeler, who has been generous with advice and encouragement. Since this is, in no sense, a scientific treatise, we have left out references to recent work and, in order to neglect no one, have mentioned almost no names. For our chapters and comments on matters of literary interest we make no apologies. Although we regard them as pertinent to the general scheme of our exposition, many will regard them as merely impertinent. But, in a way, PREFACE ix this book is a protest against the prevailing attitude which tends to insist that a specialist should have no interests beyond his chosen field unless it be golf, fishing, or contract bridge. A specialist according to this should stick to his job like "a louse to a pig's back." We risk because of this performance being thought less of as a bacteriologist. It is worth the risk. But the day has twenty-four hours j one can work but ten and sleep but eight. We hold that one type of intelligent occupation should, in all but exceptional cases, increase the capacity for comprehension in general} that it is an error to segre- gate the minds of men into rigid guild classifications 5 and that art and sciences have much in common and both may profit by mutual appraisal. The Europeans have long ap- preciated this. That our book has contributed in this re- spect we have not the temerity to assert. At any rate, we have written along as it has suited our fancy, and have been amused and rested in so doing. H. Z. December 3, 1934 CONTENTS Preface vii I In the nature of an explanation and an apology ...... 3 II Being a discussion of the relationship be- tween science and art . .15 III Leading up to the definition of bacteria and other parasiteSy and digressing briefly into the question of the origin of life . 34 IV On parasitism in general, and on the neces- sity of considering the changing nature of infectious diseases in the historical study * of epidemics . .57 V Being a continuation of Chapter IV, but dealing more particularly with so-called new diseases and with some that have dis- appeared . .77 VI Diseases of the ancient* world: a considera- tion of the epidemic diseases which afflicted the ancient world . .105 VII A continuation of the consideration of dis- eases of the ancients^ with particular at- tention to epidemics and the jail of Rome 128 VIII On the influence of epidemic diseases on po- litical and military history , and on the relative unimportance of generals . 150 xii CONTENTS IX On the louse: we are now ready to consider the environment which has helped to form the character of our subject . .166 X More about the louse: the need for this chap- ter will be apparent to those who have entered into the spirit of this biography 179 XI Much about rats a little about mice . 1 89 XII We are at last arriving at the point at which we can approach the subject of this biog- raphy directly 212 birth XIII In which we consider the y childhood^ and adolescence of typhus . 229 XIV In which we follow the earliest epidemic ex- ploits of our disease .... 240 XV Young manhood: the period, of early vigour and wild oats ..... 265 XVI Appraisal of a contemporary and prospects of future education and discipline . .282 RATS, LICE, AND HISTORY CHAPTER I In the nature of an explanation and an apology THIS book, if it is ever written, and if written it finds a publisher, and if published anyone reads it, will be recognized with some difficulty as a biography. We are living in an age of biography. We can no longer say with Carlyle that a well-written life is as rare as a well-spent one. Our bookstalls are filled with stories of the great and near-great of all ages, and each month's publishers' lists announce a new crop. The biographical form of writing has largely displaced the novel, it has /poached upon the territory that was once spoken of as criticism, it has gone into successful competition with the detective story and the erotic memoir, and it has even entered the realm of the psychopathic clinic. One wonders what has released this deluge. There are many possible answers. It is not unlikely that, together with other phases of modern life, literature has gone "scientific." As in science, a few men of origin- ality work out the formulas for discovery in a chosen sub- ject, and a mass of followers apply this formula to anal- ogous problems and achieve profitable results. In an age of meagre literary originality, it is a natural impulse for workers to. endeavour to explain the genius of great mas- ters. And for every novelist, poet, or inventor of any kind, 4 RATS, LICE AND HISTORY we have a dozen interpreters, commentators, and critics. Once biography was a serious business and the task of the scholar. When Plutarch wrote his Parallel Lives, his mind as Mr. Clough rightly remarks was running on the Aristotelian ethics and the Platonic theories which formed the religion of the educated men of his time. He dealt less with action, more with motives and the reaction of ability and character upon the circumstances of the great civilizations of Greece and of Rome. Scholarly biographies of later ages followed similar methods, even in such intensely personal records as Boswell's Johnson, or the Conversations by which so dull an ass as Eckermann managed to write himself into permanent fame. The minor details of intimate life were, in the past, regarded as having consequence only as they had bearing on the states of mind that led to high achievement. It was rec- ognized that "les fetitesses de la vie privee peuvent Saltier avec I'heroisme de la vie publique." But they were utilized only when they were significant or amusing.