OR CANINE MADNESS. 245 



vervain fsubenaj, fern (poli/podium), wormwood (artemisia ar- 

 bor escens^,mugwort (artemisia vulgaris), betony fbetonicaj, and 

 the tree-box ("biuvusj^^. 



•' The tree-box is one of the oldest internal preventives made use of. Men- 

 tion appears to be made of it in tlje writings of Hippocrates ; Galen and Celsus 

 likewise speak of it. It has continued to be used from that time to the present, 

 and it forms the active principle in the remedy common in several counties, 

 but in none more than in Hertfordshire, where it is known under the name of 

 Webb's drink, from the family name of the persons who prepare it. The rue 

 which enters into it, in equal proportions, I have little if any dependance on. 

 The buxus, or box, has long been known in India also, and is still used there 

 as a preventive of rabies ; but it is, I believe, the dwarf box that is there used ; 

 and is usually united with a decoction of the horns of the rhinoceros. 



I had long known that a family of the name of Webb, living in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Watford, prepared and sold what is called a drink, as a remedy 

 against rabies generally. The many assurances I had received relative to its 

 efficacy, supported by facts apparently authentic and conclusive, gave me reason 

 to hope that it really possessed some preventive properties ; but, till the year 

 1807, I had not embraced any opportunity of putting its qualities to the test 

 of experiment. About that time madness proving very prevalent, and the 

 public curiosity becoming very much excited on the subject, my attention was 

 awakened to the importance of such a remedy, even if it had only some mode- 

 rate pretensions. To endeavour, therefore, to ascertain the grounds on which 

 the reputation of this remedy stood, I went to Watford, and prosecuted my 

 inquiries with such success, that, from one of the two brothers who had dis- 

 pensed it, I gained the original recipe, which had been before verified on oath 

 before a magistrate. The public anxiety was then such, that, united with the 

 knowledge that I had particularly directed my attention to the subject, it 

 would have enabled me to realize a very considerable sum, had I chosen to 

 keep the recipe a secret, and vended the compound ; but no such thought 

 entered my mind. Humanity required that it should be universally known ; and 

 the day after I returned from Watford I communicated to the public at large, 

 by various channels, the recipe, with all I could learn at that time of its ope- 

 ration, &c. : the original communication may be seen in full in the Medical 

 Review for December 1807. The following method of preparing it is an im- 

 provement on the original formula ; the proportion and mode of administration 

 agree with the country instructions : — 



Take of the fresh leaves of the tree-box 2 ounces 



Of the fresh leaves of rue 2 ounces 



Of sage half an ounce : 



