DUMB MADNESS.] 



THE DOG-, AXD ITS VAEIETIES; 



[CANKEK. 



duinbness, wbicli arises from the swelling in 

 the pharynx being so great as to deny to the 

 dog the power of barking. The symptoms of 

 this complaint are, a dull, stupid look, accom- 

 panied with wstiveness, and a constant rub- 

 bing of the jaws with the paws, as if he would 

 dislodge a bone that had stuck in his throat. 

 The disease causes death between the third 

 and seventh days ; generally on the fourth or 

 fifth. A common symptom, and not alto- 

 gether confined to this species of madness, but 

 also to be found in the acute disease, is an 

 inclination to pick up straw, hay, litter, and 

 other materials, to make a bed with it, but 

 more frequently to tear it to pieces. " It is 

 likewise very common to observe dogs scratch 

 the litter under them with their fore feet, not 

 as when making their beds, but evidently to 

 press the straw or litter to the belly." 

 There is also exhibited a disposition to pick 

 up substances which, when the dog is in 

 health, are wholly averse to his nature. He 

 gnaws the boards upon which he may be 

 lying ; is irritable, mischievous, and treacherous. 

 This is, however, mostly before the disease has 

 attained to that strength of character by 

 which it is sometimes marked. When it has 

 arrived at its height, neither irritation nor 

 delirium are very apparent ; on the contrary, 

 there is displayed a peacefulness of disposition, 

 which does not arise from the inability to bite, 

 but from the really disinclination to do so. 

 The jaws begin to lessen ; increased paralysis 

 takes place ; and, like a drunken man, without 

 consciousness, the animal begins to stagger 

 about, until he tumbles, only to struggle to 

 his legs again. He now seats himself on 

 his rump, looks melancholy in the extreme, 

 and in this position expires without an appa- 

 rent pang. 



There are other diseases to which the dog is 

 subject, and which are not unfrequeutly con- 

 founded with madness. These it is important 

 to know. " Thousands of valuable dogs," says 

 Mr. Blaine, "have been destroyed as mad, 

 which have laboured under other affections, 

 as distemper, colic, epilepsy, &c. And also 

 thousands of owners of dogs and others have 

 been needlessly rendered miserable by having 

 been bitten by dogs innocent of any rabid 

 affection. On the other hand, it is even more 

 important that the real criterion of rabies be 

 480 



set forth, that due precaution may be taken 

 when necessary. Epileptic fits, whether occa- 

 sional, or the consequence of distemper, are 

 often mistaken for rabies ; but it should be 

 remembered, that there is no rabid symptom, 

 whatever that at all resembles a fit, whether 

 in the irritable or in the dumb variety; we 

 use these terms as being significant, although 

 by no means scientific. An epileptic fit is 

 sudden ; it completely bewilders the dog, and, 

 after a determinate period, leaves him per- 

 fectly sensible, and not at all irritable, but 

 exactly as he was before : in rabies there is no 

 sudden fit, no loss of recollection, no tumbling 

 about wildly in convulsions ; neither is there 

 any marked bark in the natural irritability 

 attendant on madness. If a dog in an epilep- 

 tic fit should be so convulsed as to attempt to 

 bite, it is evidently done without design ; its 

 attack is spasmodic, and pain may make him 

 seize anything, and it is quite as likely to be 

 himself as any person or thing besides. The 

 irritability and mischievous attempts of the 

 rabid dog have always method with them, and 

 they evidently result from the mental purpose 

 to do evil ; he usually manifests a disposition 

 to rove ; the distempered dog never does so. 

 A puppy in distemper, particularly if he have 

 worms, may pick up stones, or eat coals ; or 

 he may, in a trifling degree, pick up other 

 unusual matters as food; yet no dog but a 

 rabid one will take in hay, or wood, coals, or 

 rags, or will distend his stomach almost to 

 bursting. Lastly, the mistakes likely to occur 

 between rabies and other diseases, are, in some 

 degree, attributable to erroneous pictures 

 drawn by authors of such diseases. Thus, Dr. 

 Jeuuer's account of the distemper, instead of 

 deserving the praise his great name has 

 drawn down upon it, is entirely calculated to 

 mislead ; indeed, it might be supposed, by his 

 readers, that he was purposely describing 

 rabies, and not distemper. AVe could produce 

 many similar instances in other authors, as 

 Dr. Tarry, &c." 



CANKER IN THE EAR. 

 This is a disease very common in all water- 

 dogs, such as poodles, spaniels, and Newfound- 

 lands, arising from the quantity of hair they 

 usually have about their ears, retaining the 

 moisture within their cavities, and causing aQ 



