The Great Pox

The great pox: the French disease in Renaissance Europe

directory, and part methodological guide. As the author points out in the preface, there exist few general works on science historiography in any language, let alone Spanish. This volume fills that void, but it does so unevenly. Divided into sections on the study of science, theories of history and of history of science, scientific and medical historiography, current historiographic debates, th...

Sheep Pox and Goat Pox

Sheep pox and goat pox are viral diseases of sheep and goats characterised by fever, generalised papules or nodules, vesicles (rarely), internal lesions (particularly in the lungs), and death. Both diseases are caused by strains of capripoxvirus, all of which can infect sheep and goats. Although most of the strains examined cause more severe clinical disease in either sheep or goats, some strai...

The Differential Diagnosis of Small-Pox and Chicken-Pox

The French pox.

Aetiology and epidemiology Syphilis (also known as ‘The French Pox’) landed on England’s shores in about 1493. The term ‘French Pox’ was derived from the belief that the disease originally travelled from the New World and through France before arriving in England’s green and pleasant land. Controversially, it was believed to be Christopher Columbus’ own ship that brought such misery but this wa...

‘getting’ the Pox

This article reflects upon the recent return to linear history writing in medical history. It takes as its starting point a critique of the current return to constructivist ideas, suggesting the use of other methodological choices and interpretations to the surviving archival and textural sources of the sixteenth century pox. My investigation analyses the diagnostic act as an effort to bring to...