DISEASES OF DOGS : MADNESS. 369 



actions are no doubt greatly regulated by the 

 brain and nervous system, and we suppose the 

 whole circulating mass of blood to be in a 

 passive state, and the source of its action to 

 be derived from the brain and nervous system. 

 When an animal is bitten by a mad dog, the 

 poison received accumulates by an action sui 

 generis, and the brain and nervous system at 

 length participates in it, which subverts the salu- 

 tary actions of these parts, and institutes one in- 

 compatible with life. We therefore are led to 

 conclude, that madness consists in a peculiar and 

 specific action of the system, and on this suppo- 

 sition we draw our indications of cure. 



The altered manners of the animal at the be- 

 ginning of the complaint are to be ascribed to the 

 functions of the brain and nervous system being 

 impaired from the influence of the poison. As 

 the disease advances, many dogs, as we have before 

 mentioned, become wonderfully heavy, dull, and 

 stupid, with an anxious and suspicious look ; the 

 eyes are heavy, and indicate a malignant state of 

 the mind ; vision is also affected, and the dog 

 catches at imaginary objects ; the jaw-bone drops, 

 the tongue hangs out, and the dog has lost the 

 power of barking or howling : these symptoms are 

 not only the effects of the poison on the brain, but 



2 B 



