DISEASES OF GOATS, DOGS, AND CATS 647 



variance with the actual facts. It is commonly believed that a 



Eerson bitten by a dog in perfect health is liable to become af- 

 jcted with hydrophobia should the dog develop rabies at any sub- 

 sequent period, however long afterwards. Consequently believers 

 in this theory are particularly anxious to have the dog killed at 

 once before he has had an opportunity to go mad. Nothing could 

 be more fallacious and at variance with our knowledge of all in- 

 fectious diseases, and the killing of the dog should always be dis- 

 couraged. 



Until recently it was considered that the dog's saliva became 

 virulent only three days before the appearance of symptoms of 

 rabies. According to some recent experiments* by Nicolas it has 

 been found that the saliva may become virulent six or even eight 

 days before the symptoms develop. Therefore in case the animal 

 remains healthy for ten days after it has bitten the person or ani- 

 mal, no danger need be apprehended from that bite even though 

 the dog develop rabies within the next few weeks. 



Madstone. The curative value of the madstone is still devout- 

 ly believed in by a great many people in certain sections of the 

 country. Within the last few years a madstone was forwarded to 

 the Department, the owner stating that it had prevented several 

 cases of rabies and he was anxious for it to 'be tried by the Bureau. 

 Some of these madstones, properly called hair balls, are obtained 

 from the stomachs of various wild and domestic animals. They are 

 in some cases composed of matted hair which the animal has licked 

 from its body and swallowed ; but in the majority of cases they con- 

 sist of masses of vegetable fiber, such as the awns of clover and 

 beards of grain, which have gradually collected over a considerable 

 period of time and are formed into a spherical shape by the con- 

 traction of the gastric walls. Gallstones, intestinal calculi, and in 

 fact any porous stones may be used as madstones. 



After a person has been bitten the madstone is applied to the 

 wound, and it is believed that the longer it adheres the more sure it 

 is of preventing the disease. Whether it will stick or not depends 

 entirely on the amount of hemorrhage or discharge from the wound. 

 Where this is profuse the blood infiltrates the meshes of the mad- 

 stone, soon coagulates or dries, and tends to hold it in place, and it 

 adheres for a considerable time under such circumstances. In these 

 cases the virus is supposed to be removed and the treatment is her- 

 alded a success. On the other hand, where the wound is small and 

 the discharge slight there is nothing to hold the stone in place and 

 it immediately falls off. Certain of these madstones have been held 

 in families for three or four generations and are guarded as carefully 

 as any heirloom. Cases have been known where people have made 

 long journeys and paid large sums of money to have a madstone ap- 

 plied. Its specific value 'against rabies is no greater than that of a 

 piece of blotting paper applied in the same manner. The applica- 

 tion of madstones gives the unenlightened public a false sense of 

 security, and their use should be discouraged by all possible means. 



