150 Facts relating to Hydrophobia. 



The following are some of the facts as stated to me by his physi- 

 cian,* and corroborated by his widow, and those who attended him. 

 The sight of water produced a recurrence of distressing spasms, or 

 in the language of attendants, made him rave. In the intervals of 

 spasms, he was rational. In one, he requested his father-in-law to 

 remove and hide his razors, for he did not know what he might be 

 left to do in his turns. In another, he gave this caution to his wife. 

 " I wish you to keep away from me when I have these turns ; I know 

 not why it is, but I want to bite, and I fear I shall bite you." His 

 attendants think he strove to curb the disposition to bite. It was how- 

 ever very evident. A neighbor one evening entered the room. On 

 seeing him, he immediately said in a pleasant wa}^, " How do you 



do, Mr. B ? I am glad to see you. Come here ; I want to 



shake hands with you." The neighbor approached, and extended 

 his hand. The sick man seized it instantly, and with a convulsive 

 spring, rose from the lying posture, and drew it to his mouth. The 

 attendants who stood near, and expected this result of shaking hands, 



instantly seized Mr. B , and forced him from the sick man's 



grasp before he was bitten. He talked much about biting, and the 

 attendants, as usual in such cases, Imagined that he growled, snapped 

 and barked, like a dog. The shaking of pillows and bed clothes in 

 his teeth, was a frequent exercise. His eyes were glassy and wa- 

 tery. He spit much, the night after he left the bed, and during his 

 sickness. He spit to all parts of the room, and watched the oppor- 

 tunity to spit on persons who came into it. During his sickness, and 

 especially the night before his death, he screamed and hallooed dread- 

 fully. - 



On the supposition that these are to be regarded as cases of real 

 hydrophobia, the facts will stand thus : 



1. W. C, first victim, bitten by a rabid dog in 1807. Sick fifteen 

 days. Died fifteen years after the bite, in 1822, M. 26 years. 



2. L. T. C, second- victim, bitten by W. C. in 1822. Sick four- 

 teen days. Died short of four years after the bite, in 1826, M. 32 

 years. 



* Dr. Noyes who was the attending physician in the last case, intended to collect 

 the facts and draw up the statement. We had conversed on the subject, and agreed 

 in our views of its importance, and he had consented to undertake it. His early re- 

 moval prevented. I shall always regret that the task had not devolved on some 

 member of the medical profession. 



