118 DISEASES OF THE GREYHOUND. 



pampered house dogs, which are confined to a limited range, and 

 also of kennelled dogs, are attacked, than of the dogs of the poor 

 which are always at liberty. We are also told by M. Clot Bey, the 

 eminent French surgeon residing in Egypt, that the half-wild 

 dogs of warm climates are almost exempt ; and if this be true 

 there is some reason for the belief that the disease is sometimes 

 self-generated, that is to say, if it occurs most frequently in those 

 dogs which are least likely to be bitten, namely, the well-cared-for 

 and pampered house-pet, and the kennelled hound, or pointer. 

 It must be obviously impossible to prove the spontaneous origin 

 of the disease, unless some time could be fixed beyond which the 

 period of incubation cannot extend. Thus, if the question could 

 be settled by the occurrence of a case of rabies in a dog which had 

 been secluded from his fellows for sixty or eighty days, the case 

 might be argued perhaps in favour of the spontaneous origin, but 

 the advocates of the other side would immediately maintain that 

 the period must be extended to four, five, six, or even eight 

 months. The only argument, therefore, which can be relied on is 

 the one above given ; and if the premises are as correct as I believe 

 them to be, it is, I think, incontrovertible, when taken in con- 

 nection with a large number of cases. 



PROPORTION OF NUMBER ATTACKED TO THOSE BITTEN. This is very 

 difficult to determine, but the chances in the dog are so great 

 against his escape that I should strongly advise the destruction of 

 every one, let him be ever so valuable, which can be proved to have 

 been bitten by a rabid dog. No one is justified in risking human 

 life for the sake of the value of the dog, either real or imaginary ; 



