The follies and atrocities perpetrated in some parts of Southern Italy, during the epidemic of cholera, by the panic-stricken populace, are a grim satire on the enlightenment of the age. Acting under the ignorant belief that the cholera was propagated amongst them by the authorities or other persons, who either poisoned the wells or infected the air with some deadly poison, they violently attacked and murdered those who became the unfortunate victims of their frantic suspicions. At Ardore, a town in Calabria, on the appearance of the cholera, the people assembled in arms before the druggist's shop, loudly declaring their intention to burn it to the ground. An officerwith a few soldiers in vain attempted to prevent the execution of this design. The mob rushed madly forward, trampled the unfortunate officer to death beneath their feet, set fire to the shop, and ruthlessly butchered the druggist and his family. Twenty other persons also fell victims to the ferocity of the enraged multitude. Similar tumults occurred in other places. At Potentino the mob surrounded the house of a certain Antonio Sabellino, with whom resided his brother Francesco, and a friend, Giacomo di Mattia, accusing them of being poisoners. The rioters broke into the house and searched for the alleged poison. At last they found on a shelf a jar full of paste, which Sabellino kept for poisoning rats. A dog having been made to swallow some of the paste died in a few minutes. This was thought conclusive, and the mob rushed upon the ‘two brothers and their friend and brutally murdered them. In the parish of Oogliano it was firrnly believed that the poisoners went from door to door and blewthe infection through the keyhole. Accordingly a great number of the lower class of people abandoned their houses and camped out in the open air, so that they should not be poisoned; while those who remained at home were constantly firing muskets out of their windows with the idea of paralysing the action of the poison. The authorities and the troops only succeeded after immense efforts in convincing the people of their folly.