HYDROPHOBIA. 337 



said, they put them between two feather beds, and smothered them, or they opened 

 a vein, and let them bleed to death. It is stated, moreover, in a work recently 

 published on the subj.-ct, that even in our own day there are districts in Europe (the 

 military frontier of Austria) where the dread of hydrophobia is so great that human 

 beings who are MilK-ring from it, or who are suspected of being so affected, are 

 shot by their neighbours, whilst those who have been bitter, by rabid animals not 

 unfrequently commit suicide. 



"When a person has been bitten by a suspected dog, the animal should on no 

 account be killed, for it may turn out that after all it was not really mad. The 

 beast should be carefully secured so that it can do no further mischief, and then 

 watched. A few days' observation might show that the suspicion as to the nature 

 of the disease was unfounded. Rabies is invariably fatal in the dog under ten days, 

 so that if the animal survive that time the bitten person may feel assured that he 

 is in not the slightest danger, and has no cause for apprehension. By taking this 

 simple precaution, not only may the patient's mind be relieved of a most harassing 

 fear, which might otherwise have tormented him for months and years, but the dog 

 will be afforded an opportunity of clearing his character of a most unjust suspicion. 

 It should always be remembered that the majority of dogs who bite and snap are 

 only vicious and not rabid. When a mad dog bites through the clothes, particularly 

 if they consist in part of woollen material, the poison is very often wiped off from 

 the teeth, and the system is not in reality inoculated. The large majority of 

 those who are bitten by mad dogs escape hydrophobia, in fact, the Registrar- 

 General's reports show that the annual mortality from this disease seldom exceeds 

 twenty-five, and is often as low as eleven. As the greater number of cases occur 

 between the thirtieth and fortieth days, when the latter period is safely passed 

 every hope may be entertained that no harm will arise from the accident. After 

 the expiration of the second month the patient may be considered almost absolutely 

 safe. It is the opinion of many doctors that a patient may readily succeed in 

 frightening himself to death, and that the terror inspired by the bite of a mad dog 

 may prove fatal. 



What should be done when a person is bitten by a mad dog? In the case 

 of the arm or leg a pocket-handkerchief or piece of rope should be tied tightly 

 round the limb above the bite. The sufferer should then immediately suck 

 the wound with all his might, or if from its position or his want of presence 

 of mind he is unable to do so, some friend or good-natured bystander should 

 perform that office for him. No danger is incurred in sucking the part, pro- 

 vided there be no wound on the lips or other surface with which the poison 

 comes in contact. As soon as possible the bitten part should be either cauterised 

 or cut out with a knife. The late Mr. Youatt, who, in the course of a long 

 experience, had treated a very large number of persons who had been bitten by 

 dogs undoubtedly rabid, placed the greatest reliance on the application of lunar 

 caustic, which, so far as he knew, had in every case prevented the development of 

 hydrophobia. He had an undoubted right to speak with authority, for he tells us 

 that he had himself been bitten seven times, and that he had operated with the 

 caustic successfully on more than four hundred persons, all bitten by dogs respecting 

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