Description

[A Rope to Adjust the Heavenly Image of Saint Dominic in Soriano against Plague of Cattle by Hanging the Image around Their Necks]

Munich: Heinrich Theodor von Köln 1732.

Rinderpest (Lues animalium, also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, which was mostly transmitted through water.

The pamphlet offers two solutions on preventing the illness among the stock. The first one, written in Latin, suggest hanging an image of Saint Dominic in Soriano (San Domenico in Soriano) on a 44 inch white rope around animals’ necks and say prayers, quoted in the publication.

Saint Dominic in Soriano was a 16th century painting with a reputation for inspiring miracles. Although the artwork did not survive past mid-17th century, its reproductions rapidly spread across Europe, until the practice of worshiping the image was suppressed as superstition in the early 19th century.

The second solution in the pamphlet on fighting the disease is written in German and describes a practice used for about half a century in the region. The recipe is based on either sulfur either gun powder, mixed with salt, which should be scrubbed into an animal’s tongue with a special tool, depicted on the last page. One could also add more pleasant ingredients, such as mithridate, burning bush powder, tormentil water, pimpernel water, garlic, gentian and various aromatic oils.

Another pamphlet with the same title was published in 1764 (one example held in Staatliche Bibliothek Regensburg, OCLC 905433887).

Worldcat lists three examples in institutions (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and Bibliotheek Universiteit van Amsterdam).

References: OCLC 165962157. Cf.: Laura Fenelli, Creating a Cult, Faking Relics The Case of St. Dominic of Soriano: Discredited Practices at the Margins of Mimesis, 2018.