S8 HORSES AND HOUNDS. 



How rabies arises, it is for me impossible to determine, but 

 that it may be caused by want of water, improper food, and long 

 confinement, there is, I believe, little doubt ; and I should say, 

 it is more likely to break out in the spring months, when the 

 weather is very variable, than at any other season of the year. 

 We must also bear in mind that dogs are sometimes affected by 

 fits, 2^^'^cm^i/ in the same manner as if labouring under the 

 rabies canina; and of this I relate an instance which occurred 

 to a dog of my own some three years since, and which I have 

 still. May not other dogs have been similarly affected, and 

 destroyed as mad 1 I went out on the moors for a walk, in the 

 month of May, being accompanied by a man who carried my 

 fishing-rod and basket, and a terrier which had been given me 

 about a fortnight before. This dog had been tied up in the 

 stable of the public-house where I was staying, but he had been 

 let out every day for a run, and I fed him myself to make him 

 know me. He was a young dog, not a twelvemonth old, and 

 had got over the distemper. When we had walked about four 

 miles, and were on the open moor, the day being somewhat 

 sultry, the dog suddenly began jumping round us, as if in play, 

 and then barking and biting at our legs. My companion, 

 although a strong and resolute man, Avas alarmed, and said the 

 dog was going mad. I told him not to be frightened, for it 

 was only a fit, which dogs were subject to after they had had 

 the distemper. Thinking the fit would soon be over, I pulled 

 off' my coat and caught the dog up in it, intending to carry him 

 to some water, which I saw near me, but I could not hold him 

 long, and as he began foaming at the mouth and struggling 

 violently to bite, I was puzzled what to do with him, being 

 without gloves. My companion, seeing me much excited, then 

 took the dog from me, and tried to hold him, but he could not do 

 so, and he begged me to let him kill him, as the dog had bitten 

 him in the hand. " No," I said, " you shall not kill him, or we 

 shall be fancying ourselves going mad, and the very idea will 

 be enough to make us miserable for some time to come. Let 

 him go at once." Away he went, like a shot out of a gun, as 

 far as our eyes could follow him on the open moor, and we lost 

 sight of him. " There," said my companion, " I suppose you 

 are satisfied, sir, that the dog is gone mad." " No," I replied, 

 " I am not at all satisfied about it, and more than that, I hope 

 to satisfy you, before the day is over, that such is not the case." 

 I then went down immediately to a small hamlet, which lay 

 under the hills, got some hot water, and fomented the man's 

 hand, and then applied a strong mustard poultice, which I 

 changed once or twice, and we were, after some refreshment, a 



