HYDROPHOBIA AND RABIES. 



223 



ears of a bull-dog puppy which had not been near 

 the first-named rabid dog, and this puppy went 

 mad about eight weeks after his ears were licked." 



From what animals may the infection be re- 

 ceived ? We are sure that the disease, by the 

 inoculution of which hydrophobia may be caused 

 in man, is common in the dog ; and that it has 

 often been communicated to the human animal 

 by the fox also, the wolf, the jackal, and the cat. 

 The death from hydrophobia of a boy after being 

 bitten by a raccoon is recorded by Dr. Russell, 

 of Lincoln, Massachusetts, in the " Transactions 

 of the American Medical Association" for 1856. 

 Mr. Youatt declares that the saliva of the badger, 

 the horse, the human being, has undoubtedly pro- 

 duced hydrophobia ; and some affirm that it has 

 been propagated even by the turkey and the hen. 

 The same author mentions a case in which a 

 groom became affected with hydrophobia through 

 a scratch which he received from the tooth of a 

 rabid horse. This would seem to settle the ques- 

 tion as respects that animal ; but as horses, cows, 

 and fowls, do not usually bite, we have not many 

 opportunities of furnishing a positive answer to 

 the general question. 



The grandfather of the present Duke of Rich- 

 mond died, in Canada, of hydrophobia, communi- 

 cated, it was then thought, by a fox. But I was 

 told in 1862, on the authority of a person who 

 was living at Montreal at the time of the duke's 

 death, and was acquainted with his family, that 

 his disease was caused by the bite of a dog ; and 

 I was afterward informed by Mr. Lawrence Peel, 

 the duke's son-in-law, that it was uncertain 

 whether the bite was made by a fox or by a dog. 

 The duke was interfering in a fray between a 

 tame fox and a pet dog — the fox retreating into 

 his kennel. It is not certainly known which of 

 the animals had rabies. 



The disease is said to have been caused by 

 the scratch of a cat. Now, we know that cats, as 

 well as dogs, frequently apply their paws to their 

 :nouths, especially when the latter part is uneasy, 

 as it clearly is in mad dogs. The fad, therefore, 

 of the production of the disease by a scratch from 

 the claws of a cat, if thoroughly made out, would 

 afford no proof, nor scarcely even a presumption, 

 that the disease can be introduced into the ani- 

 mal system in any other way than by means of 

 the saliva. 



Several important questions at once present 

 themselves respecting these two diseases : 



First, is a man who has been bitten by a mad 

 dog, and in whose case no preventive measures 



have been taken, a doomed man ? I have an- 

 swered this question in the negative already. 

 Few, upon the whole, who are so bitten become 

 affected with hydrophobia. John Hunter states 

 that he knew an instance in which, of 21 persons 

 bitten, one only fell a victim to the disease. Dr. 

 Hamilton estimated the proportion to be 1 in 25. 

 But I fear these computations are much too low. 

 In 1780 a mad dog in the neighborhood of Senlis 

 took his course within a small circle, and bit 15 

 persons before he was killed ; three of these died 

 of hydrophobia. The saliva of a rabid wolf 

 would seem to be highly virulent and effective. 

 These beasts fly always, I believe, at a naked 

 part. Hence, probably, the fatality of their bites. 

 The following statement relates exclusively to the 

 wolf: In December, 1*7*74, 20 persons were bitten 

 in the neighborhood of Troyes ; 9 of them died. 

 Of 17 persons similarly bitten in 1784 near Brive, 



10 died of hydrophobia. In May, 1817, 23 per- 

 sons were bitten, and 14 perished. Four died of 



11 that were bitten near Dijon; and 18 of 24 

 bitten near Rochelle. At Bar-sur-Ornain 19 

 were bitten, of whom 12 died within two months. 

 Here we have 114 persons bitten by rabid wolves, 

 and among them no fewer than 67 victims to 

 hydrophobia ; considerably more than one-half. 

 There is no doubt, however, that the majority of 

 persons who are bitten by a mad dog escape the 

 disease. This may be partly owing to an inher- 

 ent inaptitude for accepting it. There are some 

 upon whom the contagion of small-pox has no 

 influence. This peculiarity exists apparently 

 even among dogs. There was one dog, at Cha- 

 renton, that did not become rabid after being 

 bitten by a rabid dog ; and it was so managed 

 that at different times he was bitten by thirty 

 mad dogs, but he outlived it all. Much will de- 

 pend also upon the circumstances of the bite, 

 and the way in which it is inflicted. If it be 

 made through clothes, and especially through 

 thick woolen garments, or through leather, the 

 saliva may be wiped clean away from the tooth 

 before it reaches the flesh. In the fifth volume 

 of the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal 

 there is a case described by Mr. Oldknow, of 

 Nottingham, in which a man was bitten in three 

 different places by the same mad dog, namely, in 

 the groin, the thigh, and the left hand ; the bite 

 on the hand was the last. Now, it seems that 

 but for this last bite, on a naked part, he might 

 have escaped. It is noteworthy that the local 

 sensations preliminary to the fatal outbreak of 

 hydrophobia occurred only in the hand and arm. 

 The attacking dog probably shuts his mouth 



