death occurred within three days. The second lasted for the whole of the remainder of the time, also with continuous fever, and with ulcers and boils in the extremities, principally under the arm-pits and in the groin; and death took place within five days. And [it] was of so great a contagion (especially when there was spitting of blood) that not only through living in the same house but merely through looking, one person caught it from the other.The plague was recognized as being contagious although the agent of contagion was unknown; as treatment, Chauliac recommended air be purified, venesection (bleeding), and healthy diet. The outbreak of plague and widespread death was blamed on Jews, who were heretics, and in some areas were believed to have poisoned wells; Chauliac fought against this idea, using science to declare the theory untrue. Works Chirurgia magna Chauliac's seminal work on surgery, Chirurgia magna, was finished in 1353 in Avignon, France, just after the bubonic plague. In seven volumes, the treatise covers anatomy, bloodletting, cauterization, drugs, anesthetics, wounds, fractures, ulcers, special diseases, and antidotes. Among de Chaulic's treatments he described the use of oakum, bandages medicated with egg-whites, and many fascinating treatments such as rubbing the scrotum and performing bloodletting to cure a nosebleed. He describes surgical techniques such as intubation, tracheotomy, and suturing, as well as describing the use of anaesthetic gas when performing amputations on patients. Chauliac quoted frequently from other medical works, written by contemporaries or those written by earlier physicians and anatomists, as he sought to describe the history of medicine. He claimed that surgery began with Hippocrates and Galen, and was developed in the Arab world by Haly Abbas, Albucasis, and Al-Razi. Through his position as papal physician, Chauliac had access to Galen's texts, recently translated by Niccolò da Reggio from original Greek versions, which were more accurate than the Latin translations. As well as owing a debt to Galen, Chirurgia magna was greatly influenced by Islamic scientists, and de Chauliac references Avicenna often in the work. The work became popular and was translated into English, French, Dutch, Italian, and Provençal. It was translated into Irish by Cormac Mac Duinnshléibhe. It was reworked multiple times, including to remove references to Islamic scientists, to the point that the work was no longer recognizable as Chauliac's own. De Chauliac recognized the importance of Montpellier with respect to surgical study. Emphasis on