216 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



is very rare in other diseases, and is an important criterion, since it i 

 applicable both during life and after death.— A few rabid dogs do not suffi i 

 from thirst, and therefore do not care for water : but the greater number 

 lap and swallow it during their whole illness, and many of them greedily ; 

 some lap it frequently, but cannot swallow it properly, because the tongue 

 or throat is swollen. But no rabid dog dreads v.ater. This is not a new 

 observation ; for Meifnel,* Blalns,\ and Grere,J have made the same 

 remark. It does not the less requii-e repetition, however ; because not only 

 the vulgar, but also many medical men, and even some late author*, such as 

 Waldiniierfi continue to fall into the old error of supposing that canine 

 madness is accompanied with hydrophobia. — Neither does any rabid dog 

 dread the light or the air as some erroneously imagine. A few animals have 

 an increased sensibility to bright light, and on tbat account prefer an 

 obscure place and wink when the light is vivid ; but none can be proper! \ 

 said to have an aversion to light.— All have a tendency to constipation- 

 The most important and invariable symptom of all is a change in the cry. 

 The tone is sometimes higher, sometimes lower than natural, rough, hoarse, 

 a.nd expressive of anxiety. The animal does not give utterance, as in health, 

 to a rapid succession of short, distinctly separated barks; but to a single 

 short bark, which is suddenly changed to a short howl. The sound is 

 neither a bark nor a howl, but something intermediate between both, and so 

 remarkable that no one who has heard it once can fail to recognize it again. 

 In no other disease does the cry of the dog undergo a similar change; aud 

 hence in cases otherwise doubtful, Dr. Hertwig has often decided that rabies 

 was present from the cry alone, and he never was wrong in his decision. 

 Our attention was pointedly called to the peculiar cry of the dogs affected 

 with rabies in Paris, and, like our author, we conceive it is quite peculiar tu 

 this disease, and so marked that no one who has heard it once can fail to 

 recognise it again, or to distinguish it amidst those of many healthy do^s 

 fcarkmg at the same time. In many cases the animal cries without ai . 

 apparent cause, in others only when it is irritated.— In most dogs affect.. d 

 with raging rabies a disposition to bite is manifested in a greater or \r^ 

 degree. This disposition is not constant, but occurs only at intervals. It is 

 also very different in degree, according to the race, temperament, and habits 

 of the animal. Mild-tempered and phlegmatic dogs sometimes only snap, 

 or push or pinch with their teeth, without actually biting. Furious dogs 

 j.nd those accustomed to fight or to kill vermin, exhibit on the contrary a:-. 

 ungovernable propensity to tear and slaughter all living things that come 

 within their reach, or even to destroy inanimate objects, and to lacerate thei: 

 Own bodies. The propensity to bite is increased in all by irritating them 

 Cats are the first animals they attack, then their own kind, then other 

 animals, and lastly man. When they come in contact with other dogs thej 

 first snuff at them, particularly about the snout and genitals, wagging : -:- 

 tail all the time, and then bite quite unexpectedly. The bite is seldom pre. 

 ceded by snarling or accompanied by a growl.— Many rabid dogs snap fre- 

 quently at imaginary objects in the air.— Their external appearance is a.t 

 first little altered. On the second or third day the eyes usually becon.? 

 somewhat reddish, and the eyelids are closed from time to time for a few 

 seconds, as also happens with dogs that have the distemper or catarrhal 

 affections. At the same time the skin of the forehead is drawn down over: 

 the eyes in small wrinkles. At a later period the eyes are dull and muddy, 

 but never more fiery or lively than at the beginning. In many instances 

 the whole head swells, in others the nose or tongue only. Most have a 

 rough appearance; and all become rapidly very lean. — The muzzle m 

 Raging rabies is generally rather dry -than moist, and therefore without 

 froth or slaver, which is commonly supposed by the vulgar to indicate t • 

 disease. The surface of the lips and tongue is sometimes very dry.: 



* Trans, of a Soc. for Med. and Chir. Knowledge, Vol. i. 



■f Canine Pathology, or Destription of the Diseases of Dogs, 1S17. 



f Erfahrungen una Beobachtungen iiber die Krankheiten der HausthiercJ 

 is in and 18-21. 



j Ueber die in den Jahren 1814 and 1815 haiifiger beobachtete wuth iler] 

 Hundc. In der Mediz. Juhrbikh, des K. K. Oesterreich. Staates III. Hi. 8n 



