Dancing Disease, Or Tarantismns, an epidemic nervous affection, apparently allied to chorea, at one time prevalent in Italy and other countries in the south of Europe. It was long supposed to be caused by the bite of a large spider, the aranea tarantula; but as scarcely any of those affected with it had any consciousness of having been bitten by a spider or any other insect, and as in every instance it has been propagated mainly by physical contagion, like chorea, demonomania, and other kindred affections, it undoubtedly originated from the same causes. Tarantismus was first noticed in the 15th century, a period rife with cerebral and nervous affections, and is thus described by Baglivi: "When any are stung (or attacked with the disease), shortly after it they fall upon the ground, half dead, their strength and sense going quite from them. Sometimes they breathe with a great deal of difficulty, and sometimes they sigh piteously; but frequently they lie without any manner of motion, as if they were quite dead. Upon the first sounding of music the forementioned symptoms begin slowly to abate; the patient begins slowly to move his fingers, hands, feet, and successively all parts of the body, and as the music increases their motion is accelerated; and if he was lying upon the ground, up he gets (as in a fury), falls a dancing, sighing, and into a thousand mimic gestures.

These first and violent motions continue for several hours, commonly for two or three. After little breathing in bed, where he is laid to carry off the sweat, and that he may pick up a little strength, to work he goes again with as much eagerness as he did before, and every day spends almost 12 hours by the clock in repeated dancing; and, which is truly wonderful, so far is he from being wearied or spent by this vehement exercise, that, as they say, it makes him more sprightly and strong. There are, however, some stops made; not from any weariness, but because they observe the musical instruments to be out of tune; upon the discoverv of which one could not believe what vehement sighings and anguish at heart they are seized with, and in this case they continue till the instrument is got into tune again, and the dance renewed. This way of dancing commonly holds four days; it seldom reaches to the sixth." Other observers speak of those affected with tarantismus as howling like dogs, leaping, running wildly about, stripping themselves of their clothing, expressing a like or dislike for particular colors, "and never better pleased than when soundly drubbed on the breech, heels, feet, or back." The attack was frequently followed by melancholy, the lype-mania of the medical writers, under the influence of which those affected sought solitary and deserted places, graveyards, and the like, and there remained for several days.

Music, generally on the guitar, violin, or dulcimer, was the established prescription for the disease. The dancing mania was very likely to recur at the anniversary of the attack.