On the fourteenth of August, the same Orator wrote that the Pope had been phlebotomized,—“some speak of fourteen, some of sixteen ounces: perhaps it will be true to say ten; and that is an enormous quantity for a man of seventy-three years, which is the age of His Blessedness.” (The Lord Alexander P.P. VI was born in 1431; and was of the age of seventy-two years in 1503.) “Still the fever does not abate. The Pope has it yet; though less violently than yesterday. To-day the Duke is worse.” The same day, the fourteenth of August, Don Beltrando Costabili, the Orator of Duke Ercole of Ferrara wrote at some length, no doubt because Madonna Lucrezia Borgia, the consort of Ferrara’s heir, would expect detailed information when the health of her august and affectionate Father was concerned. He said: “Yesterday morning, I was informed on good authority that His Holiness has commanded the attendance of the Bishop of Venosa who was sick at home, and of another physician of the City; and that these are not allowed to leave him. I was informed that the Pope had vomitings and fever yesterday: and that they have relieved him of nine ounces of blood. During the day, His Holiness caused some cardinals to play at cards before Him while He rested. I was informed also that last night He slept fairly well. But to-day between the eighteenth and nineteenth hour, (2–3 P.M.) there was a crisis like that of Saturday, of a kind which makes His courtiers uneasy; and every one is unwilling to speak of His condition. I have sought by all means to obtain information: but the more I seek, the less I learn; for the physicians, the chirurgeons, and the apothecaries are not allowed to quit the Presence: from which I conclude that the malady is grave. The Duke of the Romagna also, is very sick with fever, vomitings, and disorder of the stomach. _It is not astonishing that His Holiness, and His Excellency should be ill; for all the courtiers, especially those who are in the palace, are in the same state, by reason of the unwholesome conditions of the air, which, there, they breathe._” The last sentence, in italics, is of exceedingly great importance. The operation of venesection did not effect a lysis, as appears from the dispatches of Giustiniani which continue the tale. On the fifteenth of August, he wrote to the Venetian Senate that it was difficult to get positive information: but that the affair was serious; and, that there was likely to be disorder in the City if the Pope died. On the sixteenth of August, he wrote that the Pope and the Duke continued to be tormented with fevers, and that the Duke’s was the more violent. He added that the condition of the Pope must be aggravated by His anxieties and cares, and by the sickness of the Duke. On the seventeenth of August, Giustiniani wrote again: