HYDROPHOBIA 195 



be quite different from the popular fancies by which most persons are mis- 

 led. It is supposed that a mad dog dreads water. It is not so. The mad 

 dog is very likely to plunge his head to the eyes in water, though he 

 cannot swallow it, and laps it with difficulty. It is supposed that a mad 

 dog runs about with evidences of intense excitement. It is not so. The. 

 mad dog never runs about in agitation; he never gallops; he is always 

 alone, usually in a strange .place, where he jogs along slowly. If he is 

 approached by a dog or man he shows no signs of excitement, but when 

 the dog or man is near enough he snaps and resumes his solitary trot. 

 If a dog barks, yelps, whines or growls, that dog is not mad. The only 

 sound a mad clog is ever known to emit is a hoarse howl, and that but 

 seldom. Even blows will not extort an outcry from a mad dog. There-' 

 fore*, if any dog, under any circumstances, utters any other sound than 

 that of a hoarse howl, that dog is not mad. It is supposed that the mad 

 dog froths at the mouth. It is not so. If a dog's jaws are covered or 

 flecked with white froth, that dog is not mad. The surest of all signs that 

 a dog is mad is a thick and ropy brown mucous clinging to his lips, which 

 he often tries vainly to tear away with his paws or wash away with wa- 

 ter. If your dog is bitten by any other dog, watch him carefully. If he 

 is infected by rabies you will discover signs of it possibly in from six to 

 ten days. Then he will be restless, often getting up only to lie down 

 again, changing his position impatiently, turning from side to side, and 

 constantly licking or scratching some part of his head, limbs or body. 

 He will be irritable and inclined to dash at other animals, and he will 

 sometimes snap at objects which he imagines to be near him. He will be 

 excessively thirsty, lapping water eagerly and often. Then there will be 

 glandular swellings about his jaws and throat, and he will vainly endeavor 

 to rid himself of a thick, ropy, mucous discharge from his mouth and 

 throat. If he can, he will probably stray away from home and trot slowly 

 and mournfully along the highway or across the country, meddling with 

 neither man nor beast, unless they approach him, and then giving a single 

 snap. The only exception to this behavior occurs in ferocious dogs, which, 

 during the earlier stage of excitement, may attack any living object in 

 sight. These symptoms of rabies are condensed from valuable information 

 received from physicians of undoubted authority." 



The following interesting article was written by Mrs. Sarah K. Bol- 

 ton, the eminent authoress, who has written many books on animals, and 

 who is a great friend of dogs, is clearly entitled to space in this book. 

 Mrs. Bolton's last book, "Our Devoted Friend, the Dog," should be read 

 by every dog lover. It is published by L. C. Page & Co., Boston, Mass.- 

 Send and get it. 



"Almost weekly or monthly in summer we have a 'mad dog' scare. 

 Some dog has been frothing at the mouth, which is never a sign of rabies, 

 but of sickness or a fit; is chased by a crowd and after crawling under 

 some porch or shed for protection, is killed by the random and numerous 

 shots of some policemen. 



"We ought to learn from the experience of others that there is very 

 little danger from the bite of a dog. Let any person ask a dozen men 

 if they have ever been bitten by a dog and probably more than half will 

 say yes, in boyhood or later in life, with no evil results whatever. 



"Dr. Gordon Stables, a prominent Englishman, says: 'All my life I 

 have been among dogs. I have written five books on them. I have han- 

 dled as many as 30,000 dogs a year. I have been bitten very often, and 

 care no more for a bite than I do for the scratch of a pin; yet I have 

 never seen a case of rabies, and I do not believe such exists.' 



"Surgeon General Thornton says: 'I have served in India for thirty- 

 five years, and was for many years in medical charge of a large Indian 

 district, with a population of 2,000,000. Six dispensaries where about 

 100,000 people were treated annually were under my superintendence, 

 yet, although dog bites were frequent, I never met a single case of hydro- 

 phobia in a native Indian, and I believe that the experience of others who 

 have been civil surgeons in India is similar to mine.' 



