Plague Physicians Used Living Pigeons

In England during the Black Death, doctors sometimes treated the painful swellings, called buboes, with young pigeons. They would first smear oils, or press the base of a pigeon's tail feather against the swelling, trying to draw out what they thought was venom. If the bubo sank, turned black, and became cold, the physician made a final attempt by cutting a young pigeon open from breast to back and pressing the bird against the swelling while it was still alive.

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