Note: The term has been applied by some to the action of
miasmata arising from dead animal or vegetable matter,
bogs, fens, etc., but in this sense it is now
abandoned. --Dunglison.
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed To
dare the vile contagion of the night? --Shak.
2. That which serves as a medium or agency to transmit
disease; a virus produced by, or exhalation proceeding
from, a diseased person, and capable of reproducing the
disease.
3. The act or means of communicating any influence to the
mind or heart; as, the contagion of enthusiasm. ``The
contagion of example.'' --Eikon Basilike.
When lust . . . Lets in defilement to the inward
parts, The soul grows clotted by contagion.
--Milton.
4. Venom; poison. [Obs.] ``I'll touch my point with this
contagion.'' --Shak.