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Veterinary Clinical
Epidemiology
From Patient to Population
Fourth Edition
Veterinary Clinical
Epidemiology
From Patient to Population
Fourth Edition
Ronald D. Smith
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
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Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
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Contents
List of Examples............................................................................................................................. xiii
Preface to the Fourth Edition..........................................................................................................xvii
Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................xix
About the Cover...............................................................................................................................xxi
Author........................................................................................................................................... xxiii
Chapter 1 Introduction...................................................................................................................1
1.1 Definitions.......................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Epidemiologic Approaches................................................................................. 2
1.2.1 Quantitative Epidemiology....................................................................2
1.2.2 Ecological Epidemiology (Medical Ecology)....................................... 3
1.2.3 Etiologic Epidemiology......................................................................... 3
1.2.4 Herd Health/Preventive Medicine......................................................... 3
1.2.5 Clinical Epidemiology.......................................................................... 3
1.3 Applications of Epidemiology in Veterinary Practice.......................................4
1.4 Objectives...........................................................................................................7
1.4.1 Development of Medical Decision-Making Skills................................7
1.4.2 Learn Epidemiologic Methodology and How to Analyze and
Present Data.......................................................................................... 9
1.4.3 Learn to Read the Medical Literature Critically................................. 10
References................................................................................................................... 12
Answers to Follow-Up Questions............................................................................... 13
v
vi Contents
References................................................................................................................... 37
Answers to Follow-Up Questions............................................................................... 37
References................................................................................................................. 164
Answers to Follow-Up Questions............................................................................. 165
xiii
xiv List of Examples
5. M
EASURING THE COMMONNESS OF DISEASE
Example 5.1 What is the gender distribution of veterinary students in the U.S.?.................... 81
Example 5.2 Is passive surveillance an effective strategy for bovine brucellosis
eradication?.......................................................................................................... 83
Example 5.3 How common is postoperative regurgitation and vomiting in dogs
and how can it be prevented?............................................................................... 85
Example 5.4 How common is enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC)
contamination of beef hides?............................................................................... 87
Example 5.5 How effective is natural exposure for establishing herd immunity
to Anaplasma marginale?.................................................................................... 88
Example 5.6 Is the discrepancy between apparent and true prevalence important?................ 91
9. STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Example 9.1 How useful are acute phase proteins (APPs) for distinguishing
feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) from other diseases?..................................... 148
Example 9.2 What is the best method for estimating the confidence limits for a
rate or proportion, particularly for diseases of low prevalence?........................ 150
Example 9.3 What is the level of agreement between endoscopic and histological
methods for the diagnosis of gastric disease in the dog?................................... 153
Example 9.4 Can urine color in dogs be used to estimate urine specific gravity?................. 154
Example 9.5 What are the obstacles to rabies control in endemic regions?........................... 161
xvii
Acknowledgments
I want to thank Ms. Alice Oven, Senior Editor, Veterinary Medicine, CRC Press/Taylor & Francis
Group, for her continual guidance and support during the course of preparing this revision. This
revision was greatly facilitated by the ready access to searchable online resources such as the
Veterinary Information Network (VIN) and full-text versions of veterinary literature provided
through the Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This edition of the book
relies on content from a broad collection of international journals, and ready access to full-text
versions of these journals was invaluable. I must also recognize the contributions of the many fine
veterinary practitioners and researchers whose works are cited profusely throughout the text.
The task of preparing the fourth edition of this book was made easier by the continued
understanding and support of my wife, Lupe. Our daughter, Veronica, was instrumental in the
design of the book’s cover, and our son, Ronald, provided valuable insight into the world of online
databases and cloud computing.
xix
About the Cover
Richard Hess, “Peaceable Kingdom” from Robert Funk Fine Art
The cover image for this 4th Edition is a reproduction of an acrylic-on-canvas work by Richard
Hess (1934–1991) titled Peaceable Kingdom, Zebra, Buffalo, Lion, Giraffe, Elephant, Monkey,
Tiger, Gorilla, Kangaroo etc, ca. 1980. The image depicts a selection of the multitude of species,
including humans, about whose health veterinarians must be concerned. It also conveys a sense that
“We’re all in this together,” vulnerable to the same kinds of risks, diseases, diagnostic challenges,
and outcomes, some of which (the zoonoses) are shared among us. Indeed, more than 800 pathogens
are shared by humans and other animals, many of which are described as emerging diseases. These
concepts are integral to the current “One Health” movement that has become increasingly important
in medical education. Finally, the variety of animals staring out at us from the cover convey the
responsibility of us all to protect species diversity on our planet. They seem to be asking, “What’s
going to become of us?” Climate change, habitat loss, and epidemics threaten the survivability of most
nondomestic species on the planet. Several of the examples in this book illustrate the contribution
that veterinarians have made toward reducing the impact of disease on wildlife populations.
xxi
Author
Ronald D. Smith, DVM, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois. He received his DVM from
Michigan State University in 1967 and his MS and PhD degrees in veterinary medical science from
the University of Illinois.
From 1967 to 1970, Dr. Smith served as a U.S. Peace Corps veterinarian in Ecuador, working
primarily on preventive disease programs for cattle, swine, and horses. He joined the faculty of the
University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 1974. Dr. Smith’s research interests have
focused on the diagnosis, epidemiology, and control of vector-borne blood diseases of animals and
veterinary medical informatics.
Dr. Smith has undertaken numerous consultancies throughout Central and South America on
behalf of IICA, FAO, and IAEA in support of tickborne disease control programs. He has taught
professional and graduate courses on veterinary epidemiology, food safety and public health, and
medical informatics. He has presented numerous invited papers at international conferences and is
principal author or coauthor of more than 90 scientific publications and scholarly works.
xxiii
1 Introduction
1.1 DEFINITIONS
Over the years, there have been many definitions of epidemiology. Some examples follow:
Common threads in the above definitions are revealed if we consider their origin (Wikipedia
contributors, 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology). The term epidemiology derives
from three Greek words: epi (“about” or “upon”), demos (“populace” or “people of districts”),
logos (“word,” thus science or theory). The term epizootiology is sometimes used in reference to
comparable studies in animal populations. The distinction is useful when one wishes to describe
the state of disease in human or animal populations specifically, particularly when discussing
zoonotic disease. For most purposes, however, epidemiology is understood to refer to all animal
populations, human and otherwise. Likewise, to avoid confusion, it is preferable to use the term
epidemic in lieu of epizootic, and endemic in lieu of enzootic wherever possible. Thus, a simple
definition of epidemiology that captures the spirit of earlier definitions and reflects the emphasis of
this book is “…the research discipline concerned with the distribution and determinants of disease
in populations” (Fletcher et al., 1982).
This definition alone does not appear to provide sufficient grounds for creating a separate
discipline. After all, laboratory researchers study disease in populations of animals, populations that
may comprise hundreds or thousands of individuals. Furthermore, laboratory researchers address
the same sorts of questions as do epidemiologists—questions such as the cause, clinical signs,
diagnosis, treatment, outcome, and prevention of disease. An important distinction, however, is that
epidemiologists study disease in its natural habitat, away from the controlled environment
of the laboratory. Epidemiology deals with naturally or spontaneously occurring, rather than
experimentally induced, conditions.
The foregoing definitions imply that epidemiology is concerned with the population rather than
the individual. To a certain extent this is true. However, an understanding of health and disease in
populations is fundamental to medical decision-making in the individual.
The discipline of epidemiology is a critical component of the One Health initiative. One Health
focuses on delivering collaborative, multidisciplinary solutions to complex problems at the animal,
human, and environmental interface. This approach brings together the strengths of multiple
health science professionals including veterinarians, physicians, public health professionals,
1
2 Veterinary Clinical Epidemiology
1.2.3 Etiologic Epidemiology
Etiologic epidemiology is primarily concerned with exploring causal relationships for diseases
of undetermined origin. Other terms that have been used to describe this activity are “medical
detection,” “shoe leather,” and “field” epidemiology. One of the principal activities in this category
is outbreak investigation. Investigation into the cause(s) of food-borne disease outbreaks is a
classic example of etiologic epidemiology. A variety of sophisticated analytic techniques have
been developed to help assess the relative importance of multiple causes of disease.
1.2.5 Clinical Epidemiology
Clinical epidemiology may be defined as the research discipline concerned with applying
epidemiologic methods to questions directly relevant to the practice of medicine at the
individual or herd/flock level. The sorts of questions asked in the practice of medicine are listed
in Table 1.1. The answers to these questions are of immediate relevance to disease diagnosis,
risk appraisal, prognosis, and treatment. Study designs may be observational or experimental.
Observational studies represent a formal approach to the inductive process by which practitioners
turn their practical observations into experience. Experimental studies (clinical trials) evaluate
the relative merits of various interventions such as therapeutic, surgical, or preventive approaches
to a particular disease syndrome. Clinical epidemiology provides the tools to help practitioners
apply their own experiences, the experiences of others, and the medical literature to medical
decision-making.
Epidemiologists study disease in its natural habitat, away from the controlled environment
of the laboratory. Clinical epidemiology focuses on the sorts of questions asked in the
practice of medicine.
4 Veterinary Clinical Epidemiology
TABLE 1.1
Clinical Issues and Questions in Veterinary Practice
Issue Question
Normality/Abnormality (Ch. 2) What are the limits of normality?
What abnormalities are associated with having a disease?
Diagnosis (Ch. 3, 4) How accurate are the diagnostic tests or strategies used to find a
disease?
Frequency/Occurrence (Ch. 5, 11) What is the case definition for a disease; how common are each of the
findings?
What are the host, spatial, and temporal distribution of the disease?
Risk/Prevention (Ch. 6, 14) What factors are associated with the likelihood of contracting disease?
Prognosis (Ch. 7) What are the consequences of having a disease?
What factors are associated with an increased or decreased likelihood
of recovering from disease?
Treatment/Control (Ch. 8, 14) How effective is a therapeutic strategy and how does it change the
future course of a disease?
How can the risk and rate of spread of the disease be reduced? How
useful are the available tools for diagnosis, treatment, control, and
prevention?
Chance (Ch. 9) How confident can we be in clinical research findings?
Cause (Ch. 10, 12) What is the etiologic agent? What is its life cycle? What characteristics
contribute to its pathogenicity and virulence?
What factors determine the susceptibility or resistance of individuals
to the disease?
What conditions predispose populations to outbreaks?
Source/Transmission (Ch. 13) What is the source and reservoir mechanism of the causative agent?
What are the periods of communicability?
How is the agent spread from infected to susceptible individuals?
What is the route of infection?
Cost (Ch. 14) What is the impact of a disease in personal and economic terms?
Source: Adapted from Table 1.1 in Fletcher RH et al. Clinical Epidemiology—The Essentials, 1st ed. Baltimore: Williams
and Wilkins; 1982. With permission.
FOOTNOTES
[959] ‘Con este ... vino vn Francisco Lopez, vezino, y Regidor que fue de
Guatimala.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 113. Vetancurt assumes that Pedro del
Castillo—Diaz calls him ‘el Almirante Pedro Cauallero’—secured Barba and his
vessel. Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 148; Cortés, Residencia, ii. 165.
[960] ‘El capitã Diego de Camargo,’ says Herrera; but Bernal Diaz explains that
this man stepped into the captaincy on the murder of ‘fulano Alvarez Pinedo,’ at
Pánuco. ‘Dixeron, que el Capitan Camargo auia sido Fraile Dominico, e que auia
hecho profession.’ Hist. Verdad., 114.
[962] ‘Muerto diez y siete ó diez y ocho cristianos, y herido otros muchos.
Asimismo ... muerto siete caballos.’ Cortés, Cartas, 144. Bernal Diaz assumes
that the whole attacking force was killed and some vessels destroyed. ‘Dexaron
vna carauela,’ says Herrera.
[963] Herrera states that hunger caused the land expedition to abandon the
vessels some twenty leagues above Almería. The people from the wrecked
caravel were taken on board the last vessel. dec. ii. lib. x. cap. xviii. Cortés leaves
the impression that both vessels arrived at Villa Rica, perhaps because the one
was wrecked so near it. ‘Vn nauio ... y traia sobre sesenta soldados.’ Bernal Diaz,
Hist. Verdad., 114. This may include the land party, but not the sailors.
[964] ‘Con hasta treinta hombres de mar y tierra.’ Cortés, Cartas, 154. ‘Sus
soldados, que eran mas de cincuenta, y mas siete cauallos,’ says Bernal Diaz,
Hist. Verdad., 114; and, since Cortés would be less apt to indicate large
accessions, he may be correct.
[965] ‘Este fue el mejor socorro.... Diaz de Auz sirvió muy bien a su Magestad en
todo lo que se ofreciò en las guerras, ... traxo pleyto despues, sobre el pleyto de
la mitad de Mestitan, ... conque le den la parte de lo que rentare el pueblo mas de
dos mil y quinientos pesos.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 114-15. He was excluded
from the town itself, owing to cruel treatment of Indians.
[966] ‘El señor de aquel rio y tierra, que se dice Pánuco, se habia dado por vasallo
de V. M., en cuyo reconocimiento me habia enviado á la ciudad de Tenuxtitan, con
sus mensajeros, ciertas cosas.’ Cortés, Cartas, 144-5. But this is probably a mere
assertion, since the Spanish expeditions had never been higher than Almería, and
the cacique could have had no inducement for submitting.
[967] Bernal Diaz refers to the last accession from Garay’s expeditions as 40
soldiers and 10 horses, under an old man named Ramirez. Protected by heavy
cotton armor they were nicknamed the ‘albardillas.’ Hist. Verdad., 115.
[968] ‘Si todos ó algunos dellos se quisiesen volver en los navíos que allí estaban,
que les diese licencia.’ Cortés, Cartas, 163.
[969] Oviedo, iii. 335; and so Herrera also intimates in reference to Camargo’s
only remaining vessel, ‘la qual se anegò tãbien dẽtro de 10. dias en el puerto.’
dec. ii. lib. x. cap. xviii.
[970] The last two vessels bring 150 men and 16 horses, probably over 20, to
which must be added Camargo’s force, amounting no doubt to 50 effective men,
for Bernal Diaz admits 60 soldiers, not counting sailors; and Herrera intimates that
over 100 men must have reached Villa Rica of the total force on board Camargo’s
three vessels. Bernal Diaz’ estimates for the five vessels which he enumerates
exceed 170 soldiers and 20 horses; on fol. 115 he contradicts several points,
including the total, to which the sailors may be added, while a small reduction is to
be made for deaths among Camargo’s men. Vetancurt follows Bernal Diaz, and so
does Prescott, who assumes that full 150 men and 20 horses must have been
obtained. Mex., ii. 438. Robertson raises this nearer to the truth by saying 180
men, Hist. Am., ii. 104, as does Brasseur de Bourbourg, who nevertheless, on an
earlier page, adds Sahagun’s fanciful reinforcement of 300 men. Hist. Nat. Civ., iv.
371, 387. While the Spaniards were curing themselves, ‘llegó á Tlaxcala un
Francisco Hernandez, español, con 300 soldados castellanos y con muchos
caballos y armas.’ Sahagun, Hist. Conq., i. 37. The later edition does not give the
number. Gomara merely states that numerous small parties came over from the
Antilles, attracted by Cortés’ fame, through Aillon’s reports, he seems to say. Many
of them were murdered on the way, but sufficient numbers reached him to restore
the army and encourage the prosecution of the conquest. Hist. Mex., 173.
[971] Said to have been named Francisco Eguia. Sahagun, Hist. Conq., i. 39, 66,
and Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., i. 278. Herrera writes that many assumed the malady
to have been one of the periodical scourges that used to fall on the country. ‘Y el
no auer tocado a los Castellanos, parece que trae aparencia de razon.’ dec. ii. lib.
x. cap. iv. But it appears to have been wholly a new disease to the natives.
[972] ‘En el mes que llamaban Tepeilhuitl que es al fin de setiembre,’ as Sahagun
assumes. Hist. Conq., i. 39.
[973] Motolinia, Hist. Ind., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 14-15; Sahagun, Hist.
Conq., i. 39, 66; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., 514; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 101; Id.
(Paris ed. 1837), iv. 460 (a chapter omitted in the original); Gomara, Hist. Mex.,
148; Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., i. 279; Torquemada, i. 489; Tezcoco en los ultimos
tiempos, 273.
[974] ‘Vivió despues de su elecçion solos sessenta dias.’ Cano, in Oviedo, iii. 549.
The election having taken place twenty days after Montezuma’s death, according
to Ixtlilxochitl, who assumes that he ruled only 40 or 47 days. Hist. Chich., 304; Id.,
Relaciones, 413. Others extend the rule to 80 days, both as leader and king,
perhaps, which would agree with Cano’s version.
[975] Such characteristics may be seen in Spanish as well as native records; yet
Solis writes, ‘su tibieza y falta de aplicacion dexáse poco menos que borrada
entre los suyos la memoria de su nombre.’ Hist. Mex., 372. Sufficient proof of his
energy is found in the siege resulting in the expulsion from Mexico.
[976] The native authorities incline to Quauhtemoc, but the Spanish generally add
the ‘tzin,’ the ‘c’ being elided, and the ‘Q’ changed to ‘G,’ making the name
Guatemotzin. ‘Quauhtemoc, que significa Aguila que baja.’ Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex.,
pt. iii. 51.
[977] Bernal Diaz describes him about a year later as 23 or 24 years old, while on
another occasion he alludes to him as 25. Hist. Verdad., 112, 155. Ixtlilxochitl
makes him 18. Hist. Chich., 304.
[978] ‘Por muerte de su Padre gobernaba el Tlatelulco.’ Duran, Hist. Ind., MS., ii.
479. ‘Sobrino de Monteçuma, que era papa ó saçerdote mayor entre los indios.’
Cano, in Oviedo, iii. 549; Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. vi. ‘Cuauhtemotctzin hijo del
rey Ahuitzotzin y de la heredera de el Tlatelulco.’ Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, 413.
This incorrect view is adopted by Brasseur de Bourbourg and many others.
[979] ‘Moglie già del suo Zio Cuitlahuatzin,’ is the supposition of Clavigero, Storia
Mess., iii. 160. ‘Se hizo temer de tal manera, que todos los suyos temblauan dél.’
Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 112. For fanciful portraits of these last two emperors,
see Frost’s Pict. Hist. Mex., 104, 114.
[981] ‘Al que solo fue causa q̄ los Christianos se conseruassen en aquella tierra.’
Herrera, dec. ii. lib. x. cap. xix.
[983] During the absence of the troops, says Herrera, a part of the Tepeacans had
formed a plot to surprise them when divided; but some women informed Marina in
time to prevent trouble. Cortés inflicted on them severe chastisement. dec. ii. lib. x.
cap. xvi. xviii.
[984] The reports and other papers by Cortés, written during a period of nearly
three decades in connection with New Spain, are both numerous and lengthy, but
only the five letters relating to the actual conquest of Mexico and Central America
have achieved bibliographic celebrity, under the title of Cortés’ Letters or
Relations. Although the first letter has been lost, and the companion letter long
missing, yet an allusion to the expedition against Mexico appeared as early as
1520 in Ein auszug ettlicher sendbrieff dem aller durchleüchtigisten
grossmechtigistẽ Fürsten ... von wegen einer new gefundẽ Inseln. Nürmberg
durch Fryderichen Peypus am. 17. tag Marcij MDXX., wherein the voyages of
Córdoba and Grijalva are also described. Harrisse, Bib. Am. Vet., 179, assumes
that the information is taken from Peter Martyr’s Decades. A later brief reference
to the city of Mexico itself is given in Translationuss hispanischer sprach zü
Frantzösisch gemacht so durch dẽ Vice Rey in Neapole fraw Margareten
Hertzogiñ iñ Burgundi zü geschrieben, published in 1522. On folio A. iii. is written:
Not far from the same island they have conquered a city called Tenustitan,
wherein 60,000 hearths have been counted, within a good wall. The letter of the
ayuntamiento was first published in Col. Doc. Inéd., i., 1842.
By the time of the receipt in Spain of Cortés’ second letter, of October 30,
1520, the general and his conquest had become so famous that his
communications were not likely to be lost sight of. The incidents treated of were
besides highly enticing, particularly the victories in Tlascala, the entry into
Montezuma’s wonderful island city, the disastrous expulsion, and the renewal of
the campaign, and Cromberger had it printed in 1522 under the title of Carta de
relaciõ ẽbiada a su. S. majestad del ẽpador nt̃o señor por el capitã general dela
nueua spaña: llamado fernãdo cortes, etc. Seuilla: por Jacobo crõberger aleman.
A viii. dias de Nouiẽbre. Año de M. d. y xxij. ‘Fué las Primicias de el Arte de la
Imprenta en Sevilla, y acaso de toda España,’ observes Lorenzana, in Cortes,
Hist. N. España, 171, but this is a great mistake, for printing had been done
already for several decades in Spain. An Italian abstract of the letter appeared
immediately after, as Noue de le Isole & Terra ferma Nouamente trouate In India
per el Capitaneo de larmata de la Cesarea Maiestate. Mediolani decimosexto
calẽ. Decembris M.D.XXII. A reprint of the Seville text was issued at Saragossa in
January, 1523. A later abridged account of the conquest is given in Ein schöne
Newe zeytung so Kayserlich Mayestet auss India yetz newlich zükommen seind,
ascribed to Sigmund Grimm of Augsburg, about 1522. Bibliotheca Grenvilliana
and Harrisse. Ternaux-Compans wrongly supposes the narrative to extend only to
1519, instead of 1522, and assumes the imprint to be Augsburg, 1520. Bibl.
Amér., 5. Perhaps 1523 is the more correct date, which may also be ascribed to
Tres sacree Imperiale et catholique mageste ... eust nouuelles des marches ysles
et terre ferme occeanes. Colophon, fol. 16. Depuis sont venues a sa mageste
nouuelles de certaīes ysles trouuez par les espagnolz plaines despecerie et
beaucoup de mines dor, lesquelles nouuelles il receupt en ceste ville de vailladolid
le primier doctobre xv. cent. xxij. This is a book noticed by no bibliographer except
Sabin, who believes that it contains only the second letter, although the holder
supposes the third letter to be also used. In 1524 appeared the first Latin version
of the second letter, by Savorgnanus, Praeclara Ferdinãdi Cortesii de Noua maris
Oceani Hyspania Narratio, Norimberga. M.D.XXIIII., which contains a copy of the
now lost map of the Gulf of Mexico, and also a plan of Mexico City. In the same
year two Italian translations of this version, by Liburnius, La Preclara Narratione,
were printed at Venice, one by Lexona, the other by Sabio, yet both at the
instance of Pederzani. The plan and map are often missing. Antonio, Bib. Hisp.
Nova, iii. 375, mentions only Lexona’s issue. A translation from Flavigny appeared
in the Portfolio, Philadelphia, 1817. The originals of the second and other letters
were, in the early part of the eighteenth century, ‘en la Libreria de Don Miguel
Nuñez de Rojas, del Consejo Real de las Ordenes,’ says Pinelo, Epitome, ii. 597.
Much of the vagueness which involves the narrative of events previous to the flight
from Mexico may be due to the loss of diary and documents during that episode.
The loss was convenient to Cortés, since it afforded an excuse for glossing over
many irregularities and misfortunes.
The third letter, dated Coyuhuacan, May 15, 1522, and relating the siege and
fall of Mexico, was first published at Seville, on Cromberger’s press, March 30,
1523, as Carta tercera de relaciõ: embiada por Fernãdo cortes capitan y justicia
mayor del yucatan llamado la nueua espana del mar oceano. It received a
reproduction in Latin by the same hand and at the same time as the second letter.
Both were reprinted, together with some missionary letters and Peter Martyr’s De
Insulis, in De Insvlis nuper Inventis Ferdinandi Cortesii. Coloniæ, M.D.XXXII. The
title-page displays a portrait of Charles V., and is bordered with his arms. Martyr’s
part, which tells rather briefly of Cortés, found frequent reprint, while the second
and third letters were republished, with other matter, in the Spanish Thesoro de
virtudes, 1543; in the German Ferdinandi Cortesii. Von dem Newen Hispanien.
Augspurg, 1550, wherein they are called first and second narratives, and divided
into chapters, with considerable liberty; in the Latin Novus Orbis of 1555 and 1616;
and in the Flemish Nieuwe Weerelt of 1563; while a French abridgment appeared
at Paris in 1532. The secret epistle accompanying the third letter was first printed
in Col. Doc. Inéd., i., and afterward by Kingsborough and Gayangos.
The fourth letter, on the progress of conquest after the fall of Mexico, dated at
Temixtitan (Mexico), October 15, 1524, was issued at Toledo, 1525, as La quarta
relacion, together with Alvarado’s and Godoy’s reports to Cortés. A second edition
followed at Valencia the year after. The secret letter accompanying it was not
published till 1865, when Icazbalceta, the well known Mexican collector,
reproduced it in separate black-letter form, and in his Col. Doc., i. 470-83.
The substance of the above three relations has been given in a vast number
of collections and histories, while in only a limited number have they been
reproduced in a full or abridged form, the first reproduction being in the third
volume of Ramusio Viaggi, of 1556, 1565, and 1606, which contains several other
pieces on the conquest, all supplied with appropriate headings and marginals.
Barcia next published them direct from the manuscript, in the Historiadores
Primitivos, i. This collection bears the imprint Madrid, 1749, but the letters had
already been printed in 1731, as Pinelo affirms, Epitome, ii. 597. Barcia died a few
years before his set was issued. From this source Archbishop Lorenzana took the
version published by him under the title of Historia de Nueva-España, Mexico,
1770, which is not free from omissions and faults, though provided with valuable
notes on localities and customs, and supplemented with illustrated pieces on
routes and native institutions, a map of New Spain by Alzate, an article on the
Gobierno Politico by Vetancurt, a copy of a native tribute-roll from picture records,
not very accurately explained, and the first map of Lower California and adjoining
coast, by Castillo, in 1541. This version of the letters was reproduced in New York,
1828, with a not wholly successful attempt by Del Mar to introduce modern
spelling. The work is also marked by a number of omissions and blunders, and the
introductory biographic sketch by Robert Sands adds little to its value. An
abridgment from Lorenzana appeared as Correspondance de Fernand Cortés, par
le Vicomte de Flavigny, Paris, 1778, which obtained three reprints during the
following year at different places. A great many liberties are taken with facts, as
may be imagined; and the letters are, beside, misnamed first, second, and third.
From the same source, or perhaps from Flavigny, of whom they savor, are Briefe
des Ferdinand Cortes, Heidelberg, 1779, with several reproductions, and with
notes; and the corrected Brieven van Ferdinand Cortes, Amsterdam, 1780-1. The
first edition in English, from Lorenzana, was issued by Folsom, as Despatches of
Hernando Cortes, New York, 1843, also with notes.
The fifth letter of the conqueror, on the famous expedition to Honduras, dated
at Temixtitan, September 3, 1526, lay hidden in the Vienna Imperial Library till
Robertson’s search for the first letter brought it to light. Hist. Am., i. xi. He made
use of it, but the first complete copy was not published till of late, in Col. Doc.
Inéd., iv. 8-167, reprinted at New York, 1848, and, in translation, in the Hakluyt
Society collection, London, 1868. It bore no date, but the copy found at Madrid has
that of September 3, 1526, and the companion letter printed in Col. Doc. Inéd., i.
14-23, that of September 11th. This, as well as the preceding letters, was issued
by Vedia, in Ribadeneyra’s Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, xxii.; the first three
letters being taken from Barcia, and the fifth from its MS. The letter of the
ayuntamiento is given and a bibliographic notice of little value. A very similar
collection is to be found in the Biblioteca Historica de la Iberia, i. But the most
complete reproduction of the principal writings by Cortés, and connected with him,
is in the Cartas y Relaciones de Hernan Cortés, Paris, 1866, by Gayangos, which
contains 26 pieces, beside the relations, chiefly letters and memorials to the
sovereign, a third of which are here printed for the first time. Although a few of
Lorenzana’s blunders find correction, others are committed, and the notes of the
archbishop are adopted without credit, and without the necessary amendment of
date, etc., which often makes them absurd. The earliest combined production of
Cortés’ relations, and many of his other writings, may be credited to Peter Martyr,
who in his Decades gave the substance of all that they relate, although he also
mingled other versions. Oviedo, in the third volume of his Hist. Gen., gives two
versions of the conquest, the first, p. 258 et seq., almost a reproduction of Cortés’
letters, and the other, p. 506 et seq., from different sources.
Beside the relations, there are a number of miscellaneous letters, petitions,
orders, instructions, and regulations, by Cortés, largely published in Navarrete,
Col. de Viages; Col. Doc. Inéd.; Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc.; Icazbalceta,
Col. Doc.; Kingsborough’s Mex. Antiq.; Alaman, Disert., and as appendices to
histories of Mexico. A special collection is the Escritos Sueltos de Hernan Cortés,
Mex., 1871, forming vol. xii. of the Bib. Hist. de la Iberia, which presents 43
miscellaneous documents from various printed sources, instructions, memorials,
and brief letters, nearly all of which are filled with complaints against ruling men in
Mexico.
Cortés’ letters have not inaptly been compared by Prescott to the
Commentaries of Cæsar, for both men were military commanders of the highest
order, who spoke and wrote like soldiers; but their relative positions with regard to
the superior authorities of their states were different, and so were their race
feelings, and their times, and these features are stamped upon their writings.
Cortés was not the powerful consul, the commander of legions, but the leader of a
horde of adventurers, and an aspirant for favor, who made his narrative an
advocate. The simplicity and energy of the style lend an air of truth to the
statements, and Helps, among others, is so impressed thereby as to declare that
Cortés ‘would as soon have thought of committing a small theft as of uttering a
falsehood in a despatch addressed to his sovereign.’ Cortés, ii. 211. But it requires
little study of the reports to discover that they are full of calculated misstatements,
both direct and negative, made whenever he considered it best for his interest to
conceal disagreeable and discreditable facts, or to magnify the danger and the
deed. They are also stamped with the religious zeal and superstition of the age,
the naïve expressions of reliance on God being even more frequent than the
measured declarations of devotedness to the king; while in between are calmly
related the most cold-blooded outrages on behalf of both. There is no apparent
effort to attract attention to himself; there is even at times displayed a modesty
most refreshing in the narrative of his own achievements, by which writers have as
a rule been quite entranced; but this savors of calculation, for the general tone is
in support of the ego, and this often to the exclusion of deserving officers. Indeed,
generous allusions to the character or deeds of others are not frequent, or they
are merged in the non-committing term of ‘one of my captains.’ Pedro de Alvarado
complains of this in one of his Relaciones, in Barcia, Hist. Prim., i. 165-6. In truth,
the calculating egotism of the diplomate mingles freely with the frankness of the
soldier. Cortés, however, is ever mindful of his character as an hidalgo, for he
never stoops to meanness, and even in speaking of his enemies he does not
resort to the invectives or sharp insinuations which they so freely scatter. His style
bears evidence of training in rhetoric and Latin, yet the parade of the latter is not
so frequent as might be expected from the half-bred student and zealot. Equally