334 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



to pain, remaining quiet under blows and treatment which would call forth a 

 vigorous protest from a healthy dog. It is said that a mad dog will seize a 

 red-hot poker, and in some instances they have been known to bite off the end 

 of their own tail. A decided alteration in the sound of the voice is usually de- 

 tected. The bark entirely loses its ring and acquires a peculiar hoarseness 

 which is readily recognised by the most unobservant. Attention is sometimes 

 drawn to the condition of an animal supposed to be healthy by observing that 

 it tries to scratch the corners of its mouth as if attempting to get rid of the 

 ropy mucus which is freely discharged from it. As the disease progresses the 

 discharge increases, the lower jaw hangs as if paralysed, and the animal has evidently 

 a difficulty in swallowing. With the extremely small quantity of nourishment taken 

 the animal rapidly emaciates, and in a few days from the onset of the illness a very- 

 striking alteration is noticed in his general appearance. The flanks fall in, the eyes 

 become dim and sunken, and the general weakness is so great that the animal can 

 scarcely stand. His powers of biting are now very feeble, and he curls himself up as 

 if trying to sleep, and in this manner gradually and tranquilly dies. Death usually 

 ensues on the fifth or sixth day, rarely later, and life is never prolonged beyond the 

 tenth day. 



"We must especially call attention to the fact that in dogs suffering from hydro- 

 phobia no special dread of water is manifested. In exceptional and extremely rare 

 instances only do the animals suffer from spasm of the throat in their attempts to 

 drink. They tolerate the sight of water without any sign of excitement, and will 

 splash about in it and drink freely. There is a case on record of a man who died 

 from hydrophobia arising from a bite on the hand, received whilst endeavouring to 

 rescue a dog from drowning. Rabid dogs seldom display any special aversion to light, 

 air, or the glare of the sun. In many cases, from the first to the last that wild fury 

 which is commonly supposed to belong to the disease is conspicuously absent. In 

 one particular form of canine hydrophobia, known as dumb rabies, the lower jaw is 

 early paralysed, and the peculiar howl is then lost. 



The symptoms occurring in other animals suffering from hydrophobia are similar 

 to those described in the case of dogs. When foxes are under the influence of the 

 disease they lose their natural shyness, and follow men and animals, biting them if 

 they get an opportunity. Wolves are more to be feared than foxes, from their 

 greater strength and ferocity. They attack human beings without the slightest 

 hesitation, and generally succeed in inflicting severe wounds about the face, neck, 

 and hands. Cows, horses, sheep, and deer, from their limited powers of biting, 

 seldom succeed in communicating the disease to man. ( 



As the actual inoculation of the system with the saliva of the rabid animal is 

 necessary for the production of the disease, it may readily be imagined that it is not 

 everybody who is attacked by a mad dog that contracts hydrophobia. By some it is 

 said that the disease is produced in only five per cent, of the cases, whilst by others 

 the proportion is placed as high as fifty per cent. It is possible that some people 

 are more susceptible to the disease than ethers, but the situation and character of 

 the wound in all probability exert a great influence on the result. It is obvious that 

 when the injuries are situated on the hands and face the danger of the supervention 



