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The shooting script for Welcome to the Hellmouth had a slightly modified version of the history teacher’s lesson on the Black Plague. The line in italics was not included in the episode: “It’s estimated that about 25 million people died in that one four year span. But the fun part of the Black Plague is that it originated in Europe how? As an early form of germ warfare. The plague was first found in Asia, and a Kipchak army actually catapulted plague-infested corpses into a Genoese trading post. Ingenious. If you can look at the map on page 63 you can trace the spread of the disease…” |
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| Suggested by: | › emersoneells |
| Added: | › 6th December 2005 |
| Updated: | › 8th December, 2005 |
| Hits: | › 550 |
December 12th, 2005 at 3:47 am
I took an entire semester in college (way back when) on the plague, the class was called “The Black Death” and I find the history teacher to be quite erroneous in her “history” of germ warfare and the explanation of “a Kipchak army actually catapulted plague-infested corpses into a Genoese trading post. Ingenious.” From what I recall from class, the Black Death, or Bubonic Plague, was actually NOT transmitted from the corpses of the dead, but rather, was spread by a particular flea that fed on a particular species of black rat (rattus rattus). The rat population in Europe during that time (1340’s I believe) was so huge, thus precipitating an increase in this type of flea. When the rats all began to die off, the fleas were forced to bite humans to survive and rapidly spread the disease in this way. So the only way to contract the disease was from the fleas that infected people and not from the corpses themselves (unless, I guess the corpses that they catapulted were flea infested)
December 12th, 2005 at 3:50 am
Rattus rattus … what a creative name.
December 12th, 2005 at 3:56 am
wish I would’ve made that up myself, probably some crazy medieval scientist, ran out of things to say about that rat!
December 12th, 2005 at 4:03 am
If I ever have a rat, I’ll name it Rattus rattus. Actually, I’d probably name it Amy.
December 12th, 2005 at 4:17 am
you could name it “Amy Rattus Rattus” and she could go by “Amy Rattus” as her Screen name!
December 12th, 2005 at 4:21 am
She would be very smart to have a screen name. But I could do that spell Willow tried the first time to de-rat Amy that just made her really smart (she rubbed her paws together and stuff).
December 12th, 2005 at 4:22 am
what episode is that from, I’m drawing a blank? (which is not unusual)
December 12th, 2005 at 4:30 am
The bit w/ Amy getting smart? Not sure, I just remember her saying that.
December 12th, 2005 at 11:16 pm
I think it’s from Triangle, while Willow and Tara are gathering supplies for the ball-of-sunshine spell.
December 26th, 2005 at 8:59 pm
That Willow comment, just cracks me up.
I LOve it.
The one where she comments how Amy keeps rubbing her pawns together just like she was planning something.
And I swear, I have seen my Guineapig do the same thing sevrel times, I just know that one day.. somethings going to happend.
January 29th, 2006 at 6:43 am
“Originating in China and Inner Asia, the plague was transmitted to Europeans (1347) when a Kipchak army, besieging a Genoese trading post in the Crimea, catapulted plague-infested corpses into the town.”
Black Death. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 28 Jan. 2006 .
March 22nd, 2006 at 2:39 am
The Bubonic Plague was caused by a bacterium (Yersinia pestis), not a virus or a parasite, so while initial infection occured from a flea bite, corpses of plague victims would have lots of thriving bacteria colonies. Since washing hands or indeed general sanitation hadn’t really been invented yet, infection would follow pretty readily.