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It was asserted that these powders, scattered profusely in the

road, attached themselves to the skirts of the gowns, and to the

feet of those who had been on that day barefooted: thus the human

mind delights itself with contending against phantoms of its own

creating.

The violence of the contagion increased daily; in short, there

was hardly a house that was not infected; the number of souls in

the lazaretto amounted to 12,000, and sometimes to 16,000. The

daily mortality, which had hitherto exceeded 500, soon increased

to 1200 and 1500.

We may imagine the agony of the council of ten, on whom rested

the weighty burden of providing for the public necessities, and

of repairing what was reparable in such a disaster: they had to

replace every day, and every day to add to the number of

individuals charged with public services of all kinds.