188 HYDROPHOBIA 



sensation and the nerves of organic life, all of which have their separate* 

 ganglia, or the lesser station masters. 



The normal, movements of the body are, says a writer in Our Animal 

 Friends, the result of harmonious, co-ordinated functional activity of the 

 neuro-muscular mechanism, i. e., of the nerve centers, nerves and muscles. 

 In convulsions the movements are purposeless and irregular, and are, of 

 course, wasteful of the animal energies. A dog may have a fit from over- 

 exertion in the heat of the sun, from neuralgic pains or from toothache, from 

 meningitis, excessive fright, parasites in the nose or brain, acute ear dis- 

 ease, or from the distress of being lost in a large city; or,, if a female, of 

 being deprived of her whelps. Recently it has been shown that mental 

 distress has the power to give a dog diabetes. It stands to reason that so 

 sensitive an animal should never be unduly excited. 



On no account allow one dog to see another in a fit. The suffering dog 

 should have his head wet and should be kept for a time in a dark, quiet 

 place, free from all excitement. In most cases of convulsions a small dose 

 of bromide of potassium will do great good. Hydrophobia, considered as 

 a canine disease ,is decidely a misnomer. The proper term for canine 

 madness is rabies. The rabid dog has "no fear of water." On the con- 

 trary, he craves it, and, unless paralyzed, he has no difficulty In swallowing 

 it. Rabies is a specific disease of the nervous system. In all cases there 

 is an intense inflammation of the brain and spinal marrow, ending in a 

 loss of function, which is a result common to inflamed glands. The mucous 

 glands of the stomach and bowels, the liver, the pancreas and the kidneys 

 are all more or less injected with blood; but the salivary glands are 

 especially affected, and the secretion of saliva is greatly increased. There 

 is the furious or maniacal form of rabies and the paralytic. The paralytic 

 is known as dumb rabies. Absolutely typical cases of either form are as 

 rare as is the disease. Death, however, usually results in from two to ten 

 days in the furious form, while in dumb rabies the period is much 

 shorter. 



The howl or bark of a mad dog is very remarkable. It is totally unlike 

 his ordinary voice, and is sonorous and melancholy to an extreme. No one 

 need mistake it. The dog's appetite is so perverted that he will swallow 

 stones, sticks, straws and almost any filth. His biting and snapping are 

 reflex actions; that should not be regarded as deliberate. It is then that 

 he is really dangerous. Irritability is an advance stage of rabies. In the 

 earlier stages the animal is sullen and inclined to hide away in corners. 

 His eyes grow wild and suspicious. If at large he will roam over wide 

 tracts of country at a jog trot, with his head down and his tongue out. 

 In dumb rabies there is an entire absence of excitement. The muscles of 

 mastication are paralyzed so that the lower jaw is dropped! there is no 

 maniacal stage at all. 



Epileptical convulsions are due to an irregular discharge of the nerve 

 cells. They occur unexpectedly, are of variable duration, and the spasms 

 are of two kinds. A prolonged muscular contraction is called a tonic spasm. 

 Following the tonic spasm are the clonic spasm, which consist of alternate 

 contraction and relaxation. The dog, like the human subject, will froth 

 at the mouth and bite the tongue. Epilepsy may be hereditary, or may 

 be due to teething and worms. 



Apoplexy differs greatly from epilepsy. The convulsions are not 

 prominent; the pupils of the eyes are either contracted or dilated; there 

 is long-continued unconsciousness and more or less paralysis. 



Meningitis, so often mistaken for rabies, is yet very different. The 

 temperature is very much elevated, which it is not in rabies; the dog snaps, 

 but shows no tendency to bite, and there is no particular bark and howl 

 combined, although the dog's voice is high-pitched. 



Phrentitis is simply inflammation of the brain. It is sometimes a com- 

 plication of distempers, and is the only disorder which resembles rabies. 

 It generally occurs in the hottest weather. The dog can not propagate 

 phrentitis by salivary inocculation. 



"Hydrophobia in human beings," says a writer, "results from accidents 



