CONTAGIOUS AND EPIZOOTIC DISEASES. 29 



The poison is resident in the saliva and blood, but not in 

 the milk. The saliva of rabid herbivora, omnivora. and men is 

 equally virulent with that of carnivora, though in all animals it 

 varies in intensity according to the stage of the disease. Of 

 aniinals bitten by a violently rabid dog nearly all contract the 

 disease, whereas among men the proportion is five to fifty- five 

 per cent. This apparent immunity is largely due to the clean- 

 ing of the teeth on the dress before they reach the skin. 



Incubation varies in dogs from five to eighty days, the 

 majority showing symptoms thirty to forty days after the bite ; 

 in the horse fifteen to ninety days (usually thirty) ; in cattle 

 twenty tD thirty days ; sheep twenty to seventy-four days ; 

 swine twenty to forty-nine days. In man it ranges about the 

 same, exceptional cases extending over years being manifestly 

 instances of disease resulting from fear, a common occurrence 

 in the human being. 



Symptoms. In the Dog. — Any sudden change of habits or 

 instincts — dulness, restlessness, watchfulness, tendency to pick 

 up and swallow straws and other small objects, constant desire 

 to smell or lick the anus or generative organs of themselves or 

 others, to lick a stone or other smooth, cold object, to rub the 

 throat or chops with the fore paws, silent endurance of pain, 

 rubbing or licking of a scar, the seat of the bite, liability to 

 sudden passion and attempts to bite at sight of another dog or 

 cat, may be looked on as very suspicious, if rabies exists in the 

 country. Soon the characteristic howl is emitted. The voice 

 is hoarse, low, and muffled, and there is one loud howl followed 

 by three or four more successively diminishing in force and 

 uttered without closing the mouth. Some dogs appear un- 

 usually fond of their owners, and fatally inoculate them by 

 licking their hands and face. Others turn the head and eyes 

 as if following imaginary objects and snap as if at flies. Bark- 

 ing without object, a constant searching, or tearing of wood,- 

 etc., to pieces, a seeking of darkness and seclusion, and a dis- 



