All these modes of relief, however, were as nothing in comparison
with the irresistible charms of musical sound. Attempts had
indeed been made in ancient times to mitigate the pain of
sciatica, or the paroxysms of mania, by the soft melody of the
flute, and, what is still more applicable to the present purpose,
to remove the danger arising from the bite of vipers by the same
means. This, however, was tried only to a very small extent. But
after being bitten by the tarantula, there was, according to
popular opinion, no way of saving life except by music; and it was
hardly considered as an exception to the general rule, that every
now and then the bad effects of a wound were prevented by placing
a ligature on the bitten limb, or by internal medicine, or that
strong persons occasionally withstood the effects of the poison,
without the employment of any remedies at all. It was much more
common, and is quite in accordance with the nature of so exquisite
a nervous disease, to hear accounts of many who, when bitten by
the tarantula, perished miserably because the tarantella, which
would have afforded them deliverance, was not played to them. It
was customary, therefore, so early as the commencement of the
seventeenth century, for whole bands of musicians to traverse
Italy during the summer months, and, what is quite unexampled
either in ancient or modern times, the cure of the Tarantati in
the different towns and villages was undertaken on a grand scale.
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