CHAPTER X. 



DISEASES OF THE BBAIT) AND NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



V BTDBOPHOBIA, OR RABIES. U. MAD STAGGERS, OR PHRENITIS. HI. BLIND STAflh 



GERS, MEGRIMS, OR VERTIGO. IV. APOPLEXY, OR SLEEPY STAGGERS. V. ABCESS- 



WITHDi THE BRAIN. 



I. Hydrophobia, or Babies. 



Causes. — This is the name given to a madness which generally arisen 

 from the bite of a dog, though wolves, foxes and cats are also subject to 

 it by a spontaneous generation, and this bite is as fatal to another animal 

 and to man as that of the dog. It is believed by some authorities that 

 in rare cases hydropho'/ia arises spontaneously in the horse ; but of this 

 there is no proof ; ar d since it may have been communicated by some- 

 thing of the dog or cat kind, even in those cases where all the outward 

 signs are lacking, it is safe to say that the horse takes it only by inocula- 

 tion. He need not be absolutely bitten. The licking of bridle-bit sores 

 at the corner of his mouth by a mad dog is sufficient to introduce the 

 poison by absorption ; and if the horse by any means chances to take into 

 his mouth and stomach, with his food, the saliva or spittle of a mad ani- 

 mal, he will very probably be attacked, and especially if the animal so 

 dropping the spittle is suffering with the disease in its violent stage. 

 The poison is known to reside in both the spittle and the blood of its 

 rictim . 



When once the virus has been generated in or communicated to any 

 animal, hot weather, abuse, want of water, want of good food, will pro' 

 duce that feverish state which is so favorable to its development ; and th« 

 greater or less time in which it manifests itself decidedly in horses after 

 inoculation, is probably due to these conditions or the absence of such. 

 The poison remains in the system, without producing the positive syrap* 

 399 



