DISEA SK S OF THE NER I 'O US S YS TEA/. 5 I 3 



so happen, to die of the disease. If he does not die, in other 

 words, if he is not rabid, that will soon appear ; and the mind of 

 the person bitten will then be relieved from a very painful state of 

 suspense and uncertainty, which might otherwise have haunted 

 him for months or years. Again, it would reduce the number of 

 deaths from hydrophobia, though not rabies, as fewer persons 

 would die of fear, brought on by no contagion, and no disease, 

 except as caused by their own overwrought fancies. If the dog 

 dies mad, the injured person will be no worse otf than if the ani- 

 mal had been killed in the first instance. " Give a dog a bad 

 name," says the proverb, " and hang him ; " and it is literally so 

 with the imputation of madness. A poor wretch of a dog is per- 

 haps ill, or weary, or cross, or he may have been worried already 

 by mischievous boys ; the cry of mad dog is raised ; and then he 

 can expect no mercy. There are gross errors prevalent with re- 

 gard to the signs of rabies in the dog. If a dog be seen in a fit in 

 the street, some person charitably offers a conjecture that perhaps 

 he may be mad ; the next person has no doubt of it ; and then 

 woe to that dog ! Now a rabid animal never has convulsions : 

 the existence of epilepsy is a clear proof that there is no rabies. 

 Again, it is a very common belief, that a rabid dog, like a hydro- 

 phobic man, will shun water ; and if he takes to a river, it is thought 

 to be conclusive evidence that he is not mad. But the truth is, 

 that the disease, in the quadruped, cannot be called; hydrophobia :. 

 there is no dread of water, but an unquenchable thirst •,, no spasm 

 attending the effort to swallow, but sometimes an inability to per- 

 form the act from paralysis of the muscles about the jaws andj 

 throat. They will stand lapping, without getting any of the liquid 

 down. 



There is another superstitious opinion not at all uncommon, viz.. 

 that healthy dogs recognize one that is mad, and fear him, and run 

 away from his presence, in consequence of some mysterious and 

 wonderful instinct, warning them of danger. This is quite un- 

 founded. Equally mistaken are the notions that the mad dog 

 exhales a peculiar and offensive smell, and that he may be known 

 by his running with his tail between his legs ; except as Mr, Youatt 

 says, when weary and exhausted, he is seeking his home. 



" The earliest symptoms of rabies in the dog, are sullenness^ 



22* 



