CHAP. XII. 



OBSERVATIONS ON HYDROPHOBIA AND RABID 

 ANIMALS. 



A BITE from a mad dog is more dreaded than 

 any thing I know, which arises from the horri- 

 bleness of the disease, the uncertainty of the 

 animal's being mad, or of the infection being 

 received. The not knowing at what period to 

 expect the effects, or to feel confident of having 

 escaped it, keeps the person in a state of cruel 

 suspense for months, or even years. 



We may thank the Almighty that mad animals 

 are rare in this country ; in hotter climates they 

 are more frequently met with, and nothing can 

 be more distressing than to see a person in the fit 

 occasioned by their bite. To a medical man at- 

 tending, it is as painful a duty as he can have to 

 perform, from his having but little prospect of 

 affording relief. Although two or three instances 

 are recorded of recovery from the fit of hydro- 

 phobia, they are not sufficient to induce much 



