1032 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



6661. The raging madness, by its term, has led to an erroneous conclusion, that it is 

 accompanied with violence and fury ; which, however, is seldom the case : such dogs are 

 irritable and snappish, and will commonly fly at a stick held to them ; and are impatient 

 of restraint : but they are seldom violent except when irritated or worried. On the con- 

 trary, till the last moment they will often acknowledge the voice of their master and yield 

 some obedience to it. Neither will they usually turn out of their way to bite human 

 persons ; but they have an instinctive disposition to do it to dogs ; and in a minor degree 

 to other animals also : but as before observed, seldom attack mankind without provocation. 



6662. Dumb madness is so called, because there is seldom any barking heard, but more 

 particularly, because the jaw drops paralytic, and the tongue lolls out of the mouth, black, 

 and apparently strangulated : a strong general character of the disease, is the disposition 

 to scratch their bed towards their belly ; and equally so is the general tendency to eat 

 trash, as hay, straw, wood, coals, dirt, &c. : and it should be remembered, that this is so 

 very common and so invariable ; that the finding these matters in the stomach after death, 

 should always render a suspicion formed of the existence of the disease, confirmed into 

 certainty. Blane is also at great pains to disprove the notion generally entertained, 

 that rabid dogs are averse to water ; and neither drink or come near it. This error he 

 contends has led to most dangerous results ; and is so far from true, that mad dogs from 

 their heat and fever are solicitous for water, and lap it eagerly. When the dumb kind 

 exists in its full force, dogs cannot swallow what they attempt to lap ; but still they will 

 plunge their heads in it, and appear to feel relief by it : but in no instance out of many 

 hundreds, did he ever discover the smallest aversion to it. He lays very great stress on 

 the noise made by rabid dogs, which he says is neither a bark nor a howl, but a tone 

 compounded of both. It has been said by some that this disorder is occasioned by heat or 

 bad food, and by others that it never arises from any other cause but the bite. According- 

 ly this malady is rare in the northern parts of Turkey, more rare in the southern provinces 

 of that empire, and totally unknown under the burning sky of Egypt. At Aleppo, 

 where these animals perish in great numbers, for want of water and food, and by the 

 heat of the climate, this disorder was never known. In other parts of Africa, and in the 

 hottest zone of America, dogs are never attacked with madness. Blaine knows of no 

 instance of the complaint being cured, although he has tried to- their fullest extent, the 

 popular remedies of profuse bleedings, strong mercurial and arsenical doses, vinegar, 

 partial drowning, night shade, water plantain, &c. : he therefore recommends the at- 

 tention to be principally directed towards the prevention of the malady. 



6663. The preventive treatment of rabies or madness is, according to Blaine, always an 

 easy process in the human subject, from the immediate part bitten being easily detected ; 

 in which case the removal of the part by excision or cautery is an effectual remedy. But, 

 unfortunately for the agriculturist, it is not easy to detect the bitten parts in cattle, nor 

 in dogs ; and it would be therefore most desirable if a certain internal preventive were 

 generally known. Dr. Mead's powder, the Ormskirk powder, sea bathing, and many 

 other nostrums are deservedly in disrepute : while a few country medicines, but little 

 known beyond their immediate precincts, have mantained some character. Conceiving 

 that these must all possess some ingredient in common, he was at pains to discover it ; and 

 which he appears to have realized by obtaining among others the composition of Webb's 

 Watford drink. In this mixture, which is detailed below, he considers the active in- 

 gredient to be the buxus or box, which has been known as a prophylactic as long as 

 the times of Hippocrates and Celsus, who both mention it. The recipe detailed below 

 has been administered to nearly three hundred animals of different kinds, as horses, 

 cows, sheep, swine, and dogs: and appears to have succeeded in nineteen out of every 

 twenty cases where it was fairly taken and kept on the stomach. It appears also equally 

 eflScaciou s in the human subject ; in which case he advises the extirpation of the bitten 

 parts also. The box preventive is thus directed to be prepared : 



Take of the fresh leaves of the tree-box 2 ounces, 

 of the fresh leaves of rue - - 2 ounces. 

 of sage, ... - - A ounce. 



chop these fine, and boil in a pint of water to half a pint ; strain carefully, and press out 

 the liquor very firmly ; put back the ingredients into a pint of milk, and boil again to 

 half a pint ; strain as before ; mix both liquors, which forms three doses for a human 

 subject. Double this quantity is proper for a horse or cow. Two thirds of the quan- 

 tity is sufficient for a large dog ; half for a middling sized, and one third for a small dog. 

 Three doses are sufficient, given each subsequent morning fasting ; the quantity di- 

 rected being that which forms these three doses. As it sometimes produces strong effects 

 on dogs, it may be proper to begin with a small dose, but in the case of dogs we hold it 

 Always prudent to increase the dose till effects are evident, by the sickness, panting, and 

 uneasiness of the dog. In the human subject, where this remedy appears equally effi- 

 cacious, we have never witnessed any unpleasant or active effects, neither are such ob- 

 served in cattle of any kind. About forty human persons have taken this remedy, and 



