HYDROPHOBIA. 333 



be affected, is ean-^r.l by his master or some of the family. It is, consequently, 

 quite as important to be aware of those slight indications which should afford 

 ground for suspicion that the disease is impending as to know the characteristic 

 signs l>v which it may In- recognised when it has fully declared itself. The pre- 

 monitory symptoms of rabies in a dog consist almost entirely of changes in its 

 demeanour, and although they may be too trifling to be noticed by a casual observer 

 they are fortunately sufficiently striking to arrest the attention of any one who is 

 familiar with the animal's habits and individual peculiarities. 



A dog about to become rabid loses its natural liveliness, and mopes about as if 

 preoccupied or apprehensive, and frequently seeks to withdraw into dark corners. 

 A change is noticed in his temper, and he becomes either unusually confiding and 

 friendly, or, on the contrary, extremely irritable, morose, and easily enraged. From 

 the first there is a foreshadowing of that most constant symptom of the disease 

 depraved appetite. Mad dogs not only devour filth and rubbish of every kind with 

 avidity, but will even eat their own excrement, and that immediately after it has 

 been passed. This tendency usually appears early, and when a dog refuses Ids 

 accustomed food and swallows ravenously such substances as hair, straw, dung, 

 rags, earth, bits of leather, and the like, his conduct, to say the least of it, is very 

 suspicious. Along with this peculiarity in behaviour it is of equal importance to 

 notice that an affected dog from the first snaps at other dogs without provocation. 

 This snappislmess in most dogs is very striking. If a dog previously known to have 

 no such habit snap? indiscriminately at the first dog it meets, it is in all probability 

 not safe. 



A dog which is at large may also be recognised as being in a dangerous state by 

 its general demeanour. A healthy dog in its progress along a street or elsewhere 

 shows at every step that its attention is awake to the sights and sounds by which it 

 is surrounded. The rabid dog, on the contrary, goes sullenly and unobservantly for- 

 wards, and is not diverted by objects obviously likely to attract its attention. This 

 statement, however, is subject to the important exception already referred to that it 

 is excited both by the sight and sound of an animal of its own species. 



These premonitory symptoms may last one or two days or only a few hours. 

 Gradually the animal displays increased restlessness and uneasiness, and if chained 

 up he usually endeavours to break away or to tear his kennel to pieces. If he 

 succeeds in getting loose, he will either wander about in an objectless kind of way, 

 or he will start off running as fast as his legs will cariy him, sometimes performing 

 considerable distances in an almost incredibly short space of time. The desertion of 

 his home by a previously faithful dog is a circumstance which should always excite 

 suspicion. The animal frequently returns after a short absence, and then almost in- 

 variably exhibits a decided propensity to bite, a propensity manifested to a less 

 degree in good-natured dogs than in those naturally ferocious. It is a well-known 

 fact that rabid animals retain a certain affection for people they know, and with 

 whom they are brought in frequent contact. A dog will at first not bite his 

 master, but rather seeks to avoid his presence. It has been frequently noticed 

 in fox-kennels that a mad dog will attack only the males of his own species 

 and spare the females. Sometimes the animal manifests a decided insensibility 



