332 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



HYDROPHOBIA, 



Few complaints have attracted greater attention or have been more carefully 

 studied than hydrophobia. It is a disease of considerable antiquity, an unmistakable 

 account of its phenomena being found in the works of Aristotle. It is also men- 

 tioned by many of the ancient authors, poets, and historians, among others by Homer, 

 Xenophon, Horace, Ovid, Plutarch, and Pliny. 



It is a disease due to the introduction into the system of a special poison existing 

 in the saliva of the affected animals. It occurs most commonly in dogs, but cats, 

 horses, pigs, goats, sheep, wolves, foxes, hyenas, jackals, and horned cattle occasionally 

 suffer from it. Its production in man is nearly always caused by the bite of a 

 mad dog. 



It was at one time supposed that the disease originated spontaneously in dogs 

 and other flesh-eating animals, but there are reasons for believing that this view is 

 erroneous. It is often said that in dogs it is produced by certain accidental circum- 

 stances such, for instance, as the intense heat of the " f\og days," severe cold, and 

 want of drinking-water; also by such causes as domestication, training, and the 

 physical deterioration induced by their artificially-acquired modes of life. In reality, 

 however, there is not the slightest evidence in fa\ our of the correctness of this view. 

 It must be admitted that these abnormal conditions of life may predispose dogs to 

 mental and nervous disturbances, and may even favour the production of madness, 

 but they in themselves never suffice to originate the disease. We may feel assured 

 when a dog becomes rabid that it has either been bitten by another mad dog, or has 

 contracted the disease from some wild animal of a kindred species. It is said that 

 in the mountains of Switzerland the dogs are frequently infected by the bite of rabid 

 foxes. 



It is a curious circumstance that some dogs appear to have the power of resisting 

 the action of the poison which produces hydrophobia. In the veterinary school at 

 Lyons, a pointer, which had been bitten experimentally no less than seventeen times 

 by dogs suffering from rabies, remained unaffected. Other dogs resist two, three, or 

 even four attempts at inoculation, and are finally infected at a subsequent trial. 

 Whether the bite of a mad dog is followed by infection or not depends, apart from 

 the individual predisposition, upon accidental conditions, especially upon whether 

 the bitten part is protected by hair or other covering, which would wipe off the 

 saliva before the teeth came in contact with the skin. 



It is usually supposed that madness in dogs is more common during " dog days " 

 than at any other time of the year. In reality rabies occurs nearly as often in the 

 spring, in the autumn, and even in the winter as it does in summer. Statistics 

 show that January, which is the coldest, and August, which is the hottest month in 

 the year, are the very months which furnish the fewest examples of the disease. 



The symptoms of hydrophobia in dogs are well worthy of consideration, as by 

 the early detection of the disease prompt measures can be taken for the isolation or 

 destruction of the animal, and a great danger may be averted. Persons are liable 

 to be bitten by mad dogs under two sets of circumstances : firstly, when a rabid 

 animal escapes from home, and is at large ; and secondly, when a dog, not known to 



