RABIES.] 



FOR MOUNTAIN, FIELD, AND ITAHH. 



[babies. 



oarncst nttontion to slifjlit noises and ininuto 

 (i!)jocts. In 0!ie iustatieo wo foretold the ap- 

 proach of tho disease by the uncommon attach- 

 ment of a puppy to a kitten, vhiel\ ho was 

 I'ontinually liduiip^, as well na the cold nose of 

 mother pug that was witii him. Deane, Earl 

 Fitzwilliam's huntsman, has observed that, 

 among hounds, he regarded the smelling and 

 lidiiiig of the penis and fundament of another 

 dog, as ft most suspicious sym])tom. It is a 

 curious circumstance that sexual excitement is 

 fre(]uently an early symptom in all the subjects 

 of rabies ; in dogs it is common ; it has been 

 remarked in the human species also. Sheep 

 and pigs becoming rabid, are usually observed 

 to show the disease first by riding their fellows. 

 Lapping their own urine is a very common pre- 

 cursor to more active symptoms in the rabid dog. 

 The eyes, eveu in the early stage of the dis- 

 ease, are often singularly bright, sparkling, and 

 red ; occasionally a slight tendency to distorted 

 vision, or squinting, is apparent ; and such 

 alterations in the usual appearance of the 

 eyes, are generally followed by mischievous 

 propensities iu the animal. Nevertheless, in 

 some less frequent cases, the eyes are even 

 less bright than natural, and a slight; discharge 

 of mucus, and sometimes of real pus or matter, 

 escapes from their inner corners, and now and 

 then flows fi-om the nose also, which has fre- 

 quently occasioned madness to be mistaken for 

 distemper. But we would impress on the reader, 

 that a moderate attention only to the manner 

 of the dog and to the morbid symptoms here 

 liid down, will enable any one readily to dis- 

 tinguish between these diseases, provided the 

 observer does not allow himself to be swayed 

 by prejudice or foolish counsel. In some in- 

 stances, an early rabid symptom is a continual 

 licking, scratching, and sometimes even biting 

 of some part of the dog's own body ; and this 

 very part is often proved to be that by which 

 the infection was received ; and we believe, if 

 a true history of every attack could be ob- 

 tained, this would turn out to be the case in 

 nine out of ten cases. Costiveness is very 

 common; and vomiting also, although much 

 less so, does occasionally occur ; but ineffec- 

 tual efforts to vomit are by no means unusual. 

 The appetite is not always affected, in either 

 early or continued rabies ; on the contrary, 

 food ia not only eaten, but digested also, 



during the first Ktagts; atid Momo will eat 

 almost to the last ; but with such Bubjecta tlie 

 food is seldom digested. That no disinclina- 

 tion to liquid exists, will bo readily acknow- 

 ledged by all who observe tlin dineaso with 

 common attention ; from the first to the last, 

 no aversion to water is observed. Wo state 

 this as a general fact ; ono or two insLauces in 

 as many thousands may occur of constitu- 

 tional idiosyncrasy, where liquids are refused; 

 and of the many hundred rabid dogs we have 

 seen, not one has shown any disliko to water. 

 Li the early stages, liquids of all kinds arc 

 taken as usual, and some conlinuo to take 

 them throughout the complaint; nor can 

 we press too strongly on tho recollections of 

 persons engaged about dogs, that no manifest 

 dread of water is either a pathognomonic, or 

 at all a usual symptom iu mad dogs. Neither 

 does an active spasm attend the efforts to 

 swallow water ; and however the paralysis of 

 the parts may render the attempt ineffectual, 

 tlie sight and contact occasion no pain what- 

 ever ; but, on the contrary, the desire for 

 drink is urgent, and unceasing attempts to 

 take it, mark a majority of rabid cases ; it is 

 true that paralysis of the parts prevents deg- 

 lutition in some, while others drink freely 

 throughout the disease ; but certainly there is 

 not one iu a thousaud that does not seek 

 water." 



As this is a most important subject, we 

 think it cannot be too fully treated ; accord- 

 ingly we have collected as many opinions as 

 we have been able u])on its different modes of 

 treatment, as well as the different character- 

 istics of the disease. — When a dog is affected 

 with rabies, the symptoms are, in the first 

 place, restlessness, turning rouud before ho 

 will lie down, blood-shot eyes, an anxious 

 countenance, and a continual snapping at 

 fancied objects. All these, in most cases, ex- 

 hibit themselves some days before he gets very 

 bad. A dog in a tit is generally taken sud- 

 denly, and merely knocks about and froths at 

 the mouth. It is the opinion of most country 

 people, that a dog affected with rabies is afraid 

 of water; and if they see a dog drink, or go 

 near water, they conclude he is not mad, no 

 matter what they may have seen before ; but 

 we have seen a mad dog that followed a man 

 through a stream, and when he got into it he 



475 



