156 Facts relating to Hydrophobia. 
continued well to the 13th of June, when she became fretful, and 
complained of pain in the head and stomach. The mother prepar= 
ed an infusion of senna, and when she attempted to administer it, the 
child wonld shudder and become convulsed. The first circumstance 
that attracted the attention of the mother, was the peculiar actions of 
the child when she drank, for she was thirsty, and asked for water, 
but when she swallowed the water, she would choke and spit it out. 
On the succeeding day, Dr. Mead, of Cliff Street, from whom the 
particulars were derived, was called to attend the child: ** He found 
her lying quietly on her bed, cheerful and intelligent, for the child 
-was remarkably sprightly for her age, and seemed pleased with the 
idea of being made well. She said she had no pain, except a little 
in her stomach ; she allowed her person to be examined freely, but 
when the nose was touched, she would recoil with shuddering, and 
when it was pressed she would thrust out her tongue with a shriek, 
and catch her breath as if suffocated. This was not incidental, for 
it was tried several times with the same result. The cicatrix of the . 
wound appeared perfectly well, and there was no appearance of dis- 
ease, or discoloration of the part. She was asked to drink some 
water. She seemed thirsty, and readily assented. A cup was 
brought, and she rose in bed, grasped it with both hands, and filled 
her mouth, but in an instant she dashed the cup from her, and seemed. 
to spit or blow the water from her mouth, with a force and sound, as — 
if it were ejected from a heated crucible, and fell upon the bed in 
horrible convulsions. In a few moments she was quiet and compo- 
sed again. These experiments were forbidden, as they added 
greatly to the sufferings of the child. Several attempts w 
to administer medicine, but unsuccessfully ; for every effort to ‘wel 
low even the smallest quantity, would bring on a spasm and a dis* 
tressing constriction of the throat, which would eject it from her 
mouth. The dread of water continued to increase, to such a de- 
gree, that if a person approached her with a tumbler of water, it 
would bring on a recurrence of the paroxysms. The spasms occur 
red spontaneously with increased power and frequency, until she 
exhibited ed all the horrors of this fearful malady. The eyes were wi 
r d, there was gnashing of the teeth, until the tongue be- 
canis seria, with frequent spitting and foaming at the mouth; 
and retching which was peculiar. It returned at regular intervals of 
a few moments, attended with but one effort, as if the stomach were 
suddenly affected by a —_ and forcibly expelled through _ 
