258 RABIES CAMNA, 



and then immediately falls on him, g-enerally g"iving him one 

 shake only ; after which, he commonly trots off ag-ain in 

 search of another object. The quickness with which this at- 

 tack is made very frequently surprises the bitten dog so much, 

 as to prevent his immediately resenting- it: but nothing- is 

 more erroneous than the supposition, that a healthy dog- in- 

 stinctively knows a rabid or mad one. I have watched these 

 attacks in numerous cases, and I have seen the mad dog- 

 tumbled over and over, without the least hesitation, by 

 others that he had attacked. 



During' this march of mischief, rabid dog-s very seldom, 

 however, turn out of the way to bite human passeng-ers. 

 Neither do they often attack horses, or any other animals but 

 their own species. Sometimes they will not g-o out of their 

 line of march to attack these even ; but, trotting- leisurely 

 along-, w^ill bite only those which fall immediately in their 

 way. In other cases, however, where the natural habit is 

 irritable and ferocious, and where dog-s may have been used 

 to worry other animals, as bull dogs, farmers' dogs, terriers, 

 &c., a disposition to general attack is sometimes apparent ; 

 and by such, horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and even human 

 persons, are all indiscriminately bitten. 



When a rabid dog has roved about for an indeterminate pe- 

 riod, as ten or even twenty hours, he will return home qui- 

 etly, if not discovered and destroyed in his progress ; which, 

 in cities and large towns, he seldom is. But in the country 

 it is different, and, therefore, this peculiarity has not an op- 

 portunity to shew itself; for there the unfortunate animal is 

 soon detected by the peculiarities of his manner, and is imme- 

 diately hunted. If not overtaken, he is too much alarmed to 

 return soon ; and, before he has time to recover his fright, he 

 is discovered in some other situation, and falls a sacrifice to 

 the anger of his pursuers. The very hunting will, of course, 

 do to him what it would to any other dog ; it will beget fury : 

 otherwise there would very seldom be much ferocity apparent^ 

 and, in most instances, such a dog would return home when 

 thoroughly tired. 



