““Medical historians have cited many observations which they regarded as indicating the ancient existence of syphilis; but most of these, on close scrutiny, turn out to be unconvincing […] Ozanam quotes two sonnets from a Florentine poet—one entitled ‘De Matrona,’ the other 'Ad Priapum'—which he accepts as definite proof that syphilis existed in 1480, when the poems were written. Careful translation of these sonnets, with particular scrutiny of the expressions in them which are diagnostically significant, leads to the conclusion that they are merely very nasty poems, with no precise reference to the disease.””
![“... [I]nfectious disease is merely a disagreeable instance of a…” quote by Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0c7/hans-zinsser-34557_advantage_i-nfectious-disease-is-merely-a-disagree_1503200.jpg)
