RABIES. 1 41 



gets among the sheep, and more than forty have been fatally inoculated in 

 one night. A rabid dog attacked a herd of cows, and five and twenty of 

 them fell victims. In July, 1813, a mad dog broke into the menagerie of 

 the Duchess of York, at Oatlands, and although the palisades that divided 

 the different compartments of the menagerie were full six feet in height, 

 and difficult, or apparently almost impossible to climb, he was found asleep 

 in one of them, and it was clearly ascertained that he had bitten at least 

 ten of the dogs. 



At length the rabid dog becomes completely exhausted, and slowly reels 

 along the road with his tail depressed, seemingly half unconscious of sur- 

 rounding objects. His open mouth, and protruded and blackened tongue, 

 and rolling gait sufficiently characterise him. He creeps into some sheltered 

 place and then he sleeps twelve hours or more. It is dangerous to dis- 

 turb his slumbers, for his desire to do mischief immediately returns, and 

 the slightest touch, or attempt to caress him, is repaid by a fatal wound. 

 This should be a caution never to meddle with a sleeping dog in a way-side 

 house, and, indeed, never to disturb him anywhere. 



In an early period of the disease in some dogs, and in others when the 

 strength of the animal is nearly worn away, a peculiar paralysis of the 

 muscles of the tongue and jaws is seen. The mouth is partially open, and 

 the tongue protruding. In some cases the dog is able to close his mouth 

 by a sudden and violent effort, and is as ferocious and as dangerous as one 

 the muscles of whose face are unaffected. At other times the palsy is 

 complete, and the animal is unable to close his mouth or retract his tongue. 

 These latter cases, however, are rare. 



A dog must not be immediately condemned because he has this open 

 mouth and fixed jaw. Bones constitute a frequent and a considerable por- 

 tion of the food of dogs. % In the eagerness with which these bones are 

 crushed, spicula or large pieces of them become wedged between the 

 molar teeth, and form an insuperable obstacle to the closing of the teeth. 

 The tongue partially protrudes. There is a constant discharge of saliva 

 from the mouth, far greater than when the true paralysis exists. The dog 

 is continually fighting at the corners of his mouth, and the countenance is 

 expressive of intense anxiety, although not of the same irritable character 

 as in rabies. 



I was once requested to meet a medical gentleman in consultation re- 

 specting a supposed case of rabies. There was protrusion and discolora- 

 tion of the tongue, and fighting at the corners of the mouth, and intense 

 anxiety of countenance. He had been in this state for four-and-twenty 

 hours. This was a case in which I should possibly have been deceived had 

 it been the first dog that I had seen with dumb madness. After having 

 tested a little the ferocity or manageableness of the animal, I passed my 

 hand along the outside of the jaws, and felt a bone wedged between two of 

 the grinders. The forceps soon set .all right with him. 



It is time to inquire more strictly into the post-mortem appearances of 

 rabies in the dog. 



In dumb madness the unfailing accompaniment is, to a greater or less 

 degree, paralysis of the muscles of the lower jaw, and the tongue is disco- 

 loured and swollen, and hanging from the mouth ; more blood than usual 

 also is deposited in the anterior and inferior portion of it. Its colour 

 varies from a dark red to a dingy purple, or almost black. In ferocious 

 madness it is usually torn and bruised, or it is discoloured by the dirt and 



