Concerning the epidemic of 1414 in France, Lobineau relates that the disease was fatal only for the aged. Mezeray also speaks of the high mortality of the old in this epidemic. Regarding the pandemic of 1510, Thomas Short remarks that none died except some children. Mezeray, on the other hand, says that the disease had claimed many victims. Pasquier and Valleriola both write of the epidemic of 1557, in France, as being distinctly mild in character. Children only who could not freely cough out the phlegm died. Coyttar speaks of the absence of death except in tuberculous patients. In the pandemic of 1580 individual observers report enormous death rates. Thus, according to Schenkius, the disease killed 9,000 persons in Rome, while Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities were said to have been nearly depopulated by the disease. This high mortality was, however, even at that time attributed by some physicians to the injudicious employment of venesection. Throughout the more recent history of pandemic influenza opinion seems to have been nearly unanimous that blood letting has had very bad results in the outcome of influenza cases. Remarks to this effect have been made by the contemporaries of nearly every epidemic since 1580. According to Rayger and others during the epidemic of 1675, nobody died of the disease itself with the exception of debilitated persons, although it spared neither the weak nor the strong. Concerning the epidemic of 1688, Thomas Short writes for England that though not one of fifteen escaped it, yet not one of a thousand that had it died. In 1712, Slevogt writes that in Germany “Fear soon vanished when it was seen that although it had spread all over the city, it left the sick with equal rapidity.” Finkler remarks, concerning 1729–30, that, “The great mortality which attended the epidemic in England and Italy seems somewhat remarkable. Thus Hahn states that in London in the month of September one thousand persons died each week, and in Mayence forty persons daily. Most likely, however, other diseases which were present at the same time added their quota to the mortality, especially as the disease in other places, for example in Germany, ran a benign course.” Perkins, Huxham, Pelargus, Carl and others, concerning the epidemic of 1732–33, all testify that the disease was of very low fatality. In 1742 the epidemic was evidenced by an enormous morbidity but the disease was not dangerous as a general rule although Huxham occasionally speaks of the virulent character of the disease in England, and Cohansen says that in January, 1743, over 8,000 persons died from influenza in Rome and 5,000 in Mayence. We have the testimony of Robert Whytt, for 1758, and that of Razoux and Saillant and Ehrman for 1762, as to the low mortality of the epidemic for those years.