364 



Rabies, or Canine Madness. 



XII. 



ing of dogs, and from his time to the present 

 it has liad its advocates. The truth is, how- 

 ever, that the removal of the worm does not 

 protect the do<r aoainst the disorder, but 

 renders him incapable of communicating it 

 to any other creature. Tfie following facts 

 will i^how how fir it may be recommended 

 for the restriction of a malady horrid in its 

 effects, where a human being )s concerned. 

 'I'iiree dogs that were wormed being bit- 

 ten by mad dogs at three several periods, all 

 died mad, but did not bite, nor do any mis- 

 chief; for although one of them frequently 

 ran at and attempted to bite a healthy dog 

 in the same kennel, his tongue was so 

 swelled that he could not make his teeth 

 meet. The sound dog was kept in the ken- 

 nel until the mad one died, and was pur- 

 posely preserved for two years afterwards, 

 to note the effect, but he never ailed, al- 

 though no remedies were applied to check 

 any infection that might have been received 

 from the contact of the mad dog. To prove 

 the use of worming, three more striking in- 

 stances may be adduced. A terrier bitch 

 went mad, that was kept in a kennel with 

 forty couple of hounds; not a single hound 

 was bitten, nor was she seen to offer to bite. 

 Every attention was paid to her, and the 

 gradations of the disease — which were ex- 

 tremely rapid — minutely noted. The rabies 

 U'as fast approaching before she was sepa- 

 rated from the hounds, and she died the se- 

 cond day after. At first warm milk was 

 placed before her, which she attempted to 

 lap, but the throat refused its functions. 

 From this period she never tried to eat or 

 drink, seldom rose up, or even moved; the 

 tongue swelled very much, and long before 

 her death the jaws were distended by it. 

 In another case, a spaniel that had been 

 wormed, was observed to be seized and bit- 

 ten in the lip by a mad dog. Medicine was 

 applied, and every precaution taken. Upon 

 the fourteenth day he appeared to loathe his 

 food, and his ey^s looked unusually heavy; 

 the day following he endeavoured to lap 

 milk, but could swallow none. From that 

 time the tongue began to swell; he moved 

 but seldom, and on the third day he died. 

 For many hours previous to his death, the 

 tongue was so enlarged that the fangs ori 

 canine teeth could not meet each other by | 

 upwards of an inch. The forty couple of 

 hounds already mentioned were all wormed,} 

 and several of them were bitten and went 

 mad, but only one of them attempted to bite, 

 and this was a hound in which one half of 

 the worm had been suffered to remain, owing 

 lo his violent struggling during the opera- 

 tion. The others all died wiili symptoms 

 eimitur to those of the terrier and spaniel, 



namely, a violent swelling of the tongue, 

 and a stupor rendering them nearly motion- 

 less, and both which symptoms seemed to 

 increase with the disease. 



Though it has been questioned whether 

 rabies has ever been produced spontaneous- 

 ly, or whether it has not always originated 

 from the bite of a rabid animal at some pe- 

 riod or other, yet there can be no doubt that 

 it is often accelerated by the savage custom 

 of dog-fighting. Mr. Youatt says that ra- 

 bies is disseminated in a tenfold degree by 

 the dogs used for fighting than by any other 

 breed ; hence the suppression of that bar- 

 barous sport would much help to lessen the 

 disease. Hydrophobia may be acquired not 

 only from the dog, but from a rabid wolf, 

 fox, jackal, cat, horse, ass, mule, ox, sheep, 

 and hog, and even from a goose, duck, hen, 

 &,c., that have been bitten, but varying in 

 jthe symptoms and degree of virulence. 

 iFranzius says, "if a fox runneth mad, he 

 hath the same qualities as a mad dog; and 

 [if he bites any one, it is venomous." It may 

 [be mentioned that the late Duke of Rich- 

 jmond died from hydrophobia contracted from 

 I the bite of a mad fox in Canada. All warm- 

 [ blooded animals seem subject to rabies, but 

 [ it has not been observed in any of the cold- 

 blooded creatures. 



I Various signs by which a mad dog may be 

 known are mentioned by authors, but as not 

 even two out of the several accounts I have 

 consulted perfectly coincide, and much that 

 is stated seems to be fanciful, it is by no 

 means easy to learn the true diagnostics 

 ! where there exists so much mistake, contra- 

 diction, and inconsistency. I greatly ques- 

 ition whether many authors have actually 

 .observed the successive stages of rabies from 

 [its commencement in the dog to its termina- 

 , tion. Some, too, seem to have construed 

 the eccentric peculiarities in the conduct of 

 !a queer dog or two into veritable symptoms 

 of approaching rabies; but being a little sin- 

 jgular, is not the same thing as being rabid — 

 la fact familiar to those who have read of the 

 eccentricities of authors. Simply because 

 he is the latest writer on the progressive 

 symptoms of rabies, I extract the following 

 remarks by Mr. H. D. Richardson, who says: 

 "One of the earliest symptoms of rabies 

 jin the dog is restlessncgs. He is constantly 

 [turning round and round before he will lie 

 down; his countenance becomes anxious, his 

 leyes blood.-hot ; he tiincies that he sees ob 

 jjects around him which have no real exist- 

 [ence, and he snaps at the empty air; his 

 I fondness for his master increases, and with 

 it his propensity to lick his hands and face — 

 a filthy practice at any time, and one most 

 dangerous; the appetite becomes depraved, 



