232 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 



remained there a week, and then returned and rejoined the hay-camp. On 

 the twenty-fourth day after he was bitten, I was sent for to visit him at the 

 hay-camp, on the Smoky Hill river, lying in a wagon-bed, and was saluted 

 with, 'Doctor, that dog has killed me ; I know that I have got the hydro- 

 phobia, and that I shall die.' His face flushed ; skin hot ; pulse very rapid 

 and small, 125; tongue furred, brownish, swollen; complained that his 

 throat was turning into bone, and that he could not swallow; if he saw 

 any liquid, thought he would like to drink a bucketful of water just once. 

 On attempting to give him some morphia in solution the convulsions were 

 ushered in. He had been well up to the morning he sent for me. The first 

 symptom he noticed was the feeling of constriction iu his throat, and he 

 noticed a slight increase of redness in the wounds on his hand, though there 

 was no pain. Had seen several cases of hydrophobia, and at the earnest 

 solicitation of his wife had sent for me. Left him powders, of twenty grains 

 each, hydrate chloral, to be given in moist sugar every three hours, and 

 promised to see him next morning. I saw him the following morning, and 

 found him decidedly worse ; convulsions more frequent and stronger ; pulse 

 smaller and extremely rapid ; tongue more swollen ; no so-called ' charac- 

 teristic pustules' to be found after caieful search; eyes brilliant, with 

 rather a contracted pupil ; great difficulty of swallowing, though he was 

 able to sup up a little water through some straw from a covered cup; had 

 considerable sleep from the chloral, but his stomach had rejected the last 

 dose, and he was unable to take any more ; mental faculties clear, could tell 

 the approach of a convulsion, and begged his wife and attendants to take 

 care ; much increase of the thick tenacious saliva, and greater difficulty iu 

 freeing himself of it. No alteration in appearance of wound. The con- 

 vulsions became more frequent, stronger, and longer in duration. He in- 

 sisted upon being chained down to the wagon bed to prevent his injuring 

 any one. Chloroform was left, with directions as to use. The day follow- 

 ing I found him barely alive, unconscious, with frequent feeble spasms. 

 Death ended the terrible scene after thirty-seven hours of sufierings. In 

 this case there was no marked hyperesthesia of the skin complained of. 



"Neither can I agree with the writer of the paper mentioned above, that 

 mephitic inoculation is sure death. For the result of one case of bite frouj 

 a rabid skunk, which will be detailed more fully hereafter, the report of 

 eight others (six hunters and two soldiers) that were bitten, and also from 

 having in my possession two dogs, one a setter and the other a black-and- 

 tan, which have been repeatedly bitten in encounters with these animals 

 and have as yet never evinced any symptom of the disease, will not permit 

 me to concur with him. That more cases, proportionally, may result fatally 

 from the bite of this animal, than from the bite of rabid dogs or wolves, is 

 probably, if not actually, the case ; still, there are obvious reasons for it to 

 be so. An animal nocturnal in its habits, generally timid, but armed with 

 a powerful battery to resist any injury or affront ; one that will not attempt 

 to bite in defence until the secretion provided for it by nature is exhausted, 

 loses that secretion by the disease. It is a well-authenticated fact that 

 rabid skunks are entirely free from the odor so characteristic of theso ani- 

 mals, which could not occur if the secretion was not exhausted, and forget- 

 ting its normal timidity will attack any person or animal he may come iu 

 contact with, biting the nmst exposed art of the body, the alae of the nose, 



