[40] M. Millot places this account among the “exaggerations which ought not to have a place in history;” but, as we have no evidence for or against the fact, it was thought proper to let it remain as related by the historians of those times. It is certain that in those days mankind assembled for the purposes of bloodshed and slaughter in prodigious numbers; the destruction was commonly in proportion to the numbers assembled. The account is not more incredible than that of Tamerlane’s filling up the harbour of Smyrna by causing each of his soldiers to throw a stone into it. Such an army could have spared the number in question. While the nations were thus deluging the earth with blood, the pestilence made its appearance in the east, attended with extraordinary phenomena.[41] Some of these are taken notice of by the Arabian historians, and others are mentioned by them, concerning which the Greek histories are silent. In 636, particularly, we hear of violent storms of hail throughout the Arabian Peninsula, and of Syria being ravaged by epidemic distempers. It would seem, indeed, that the plague, during the whole of these horrible periods, had never been extinguished; for in 671 they tell us that a celebrated Arab, named _Ziyad_, died of the plague; though neither Greek nor Arabian historians take notice of any remarkable pestilence as raging at that time. We are told that this man was attended by no fewer than _an hundred and fifty_ physicians.[42] “But, _as the decree was sealed_, and _the thing determined_, they found it impossible to save him.” This distemper was attended with such an excruciating pain in his right hand, that the unhappy patient had recourse to a _cadi_, or judge, to inform him whether he might lawfully cut it off. The judge determined that it was absolutely unlawful to do so; notwithstanding which, Ziyad resolved to proceed: but his heart failed him when he saw the instruments and cauterising irons to be employed in the operation; for in those times of barbarity and ignorance they knew no other method of stopping blood but by a hot iron; and therefore some of the physicians in ancient times, when a limb was to be cut off, ordered the incision to be made down to the bone with a red hot razor. But, to return to our subject: In Syria and Mesopotamia swarms of locusts infected the earth about the year 679; but, as it seems extremely probable that the plague was never out of the eastern regions, we cannot expect to hear much of it, unless when extremely violent. That in the time of Constantine Copronymus seems to have extended over Arabia, as we are told that the Khalif Yezid, who was cotemporary with Copronymus, died of the plague. We are also told, that the earthquakes which afflicted the territories of the Greek emperors extended themselves to the countries about the Caspian Sea. In those ages indeed the phenomena of nature appear to have been so extraordinary, that we can scarcely account