268 RABIES CANINA, 



inflamed. The kidneys usually escape, neither is the bladder 

 in general attacked, but the urine contained is often deeply 

 tinged with bile from the hepatic affection. 



The bodies of those dogs, who die of this disease, soon be- 

 come putrid ; but there is no peculiarity of smell attending 

 them : neither are they so offensive as I have often witnessed 

 them in other cases of inflamed bow^els, particularly of that 

 kind produced by mineral poisons. 1 have frequently offered 

 to a healthy dog various parts of the body of rabid dogs, but 

 I could never distinguish any marks of dread or disgust. I 

 am, therefore, convinced that, living or dead, there is nothing 

 in the smell that characterises rabies from one to the other, 

 as has been so often alledged, among the other vulgar errors 

 held forth. 



Having thus described the symptoms and morbid anatomy 

 of rabies, it may be worth inquiring whether any other dis- 

 eases present appearances at all similar to these ? What such 

 diseases are, and how we can best distinguish between them ? 

 It is certainly possible, that those not at all acquainted with 

 canine pathology, might mistake the distemper, tetanus, or 

 even the lead colic, for rabies : but under any other circum- 

 stances it is not probable that such mistakes could arise. In 

 some cases of distemper, the epileptic attack will remain for a 

 long time, during which the delirium and wildness occasioned 

 thereby may be mistaken for madness *. But, even in these 

 cases, the duration of the fit is still determinate, and the dog 

 returns as soon as it is over to his former peaceable habit, un- 

 less, indeed, he should be destroyed at once by its violence, 

 in which case even no difficulty can arise but what may be 



* If the distemper is ever mistaken for rabies, authors, by their confus- 

 ed and overcharged descriptions of it, have led to the error. Dr. Jenneh's 

 account of the disease, instead of deserving the praise his great name 

 has drawn down on it, is entirely calculated to mislead ; and it might be 

 supposed, by his readers, that he was purposely describing rabies and not 

 distemper.— See Medico-Chirurg. Trails, vol. i, p. 263. I could produce 

 many similar instances in other authors. 



