“ "EL. ©. Hovey— Rabies Mephitica. 479 
which means the particulars have been obtained of forty-one 
cases of Rabies mephitica, occurring in Virginia, Michigan, Illi- 
nois, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado and Texas. were fatal 
except one; that was the case of a farmer, named Fletcher, liv- 
ing near Gainsyille, Texas, who was twice bitten by 4. ma- 
croura, yet recovered and is living still. On further inquiry it 
was found that he was aware of his danger, and used prompt 
preventive treatment. Another case was alleged to be an 
exception; that of a dog which was severely bitten in a long 
fight with a skunk, but whose wounds healed readily and with- 
out subsequent disease. It seems, however, that this dog after- 
ward died with mysterious symptoms like those of hydro- 
phobia in some of its less aggravated forms. 
Instead of burdening this article with a mass of circumstan- 
tial details, a few cases only will be given best fitted to show 
the peculiarities of the malady; and those are preferred that 
are located on the almost uninhabited plains of western Kan- 
sas, because there the mephitic weasels would be least liable to 
be inoculated with canine virus. 
_ A veteran hunter, Nathaniel Douglas, was hunting buffalo, 
in June, 1872, fourteen miles north of Park’s Fo hile 
asleep he was bitten on the thumb by a skunk. Fourteen days 
afterward singular sensations caused him to seek medical 
advice. But it was too late, and after convulsions lasting for 
ten hours he died. This case is reported by an eye-witness, 
Mr. E. S. Love, of Wyandotte, Kansas, who also gives several 
similar accounts. 
One of the men employed by H. P. Wilson, Esq., of Hayes 
City, Kansas, was bitten by a skunk at night, while ani: 
other until death brought relief. Mr. Wilson also reports other 
cases, one of which is very recent. In the summer of (1878, a 
Swedish girl was bitten by a skunk while going to a neighbor's 
house. As the wound was slight and readily cured, the affair 
was hardly thought worthy of remembrance. Buton Jan. 24th, 
1874, the virus, which had been latent for five months, asserted 
its power. She was seized with terrible paroxysms. Large 
doses of morphine were administered, which ended both her 
agony and her life. 
ing it with his hand, he found it to be a skunk, which after a 
struggle he killed, but not until his hand was painfully pune- 
tured and lacerated. He presented himself for treatment to 
Dr. J. H. Janeway, army surgeon at Fort Hayes, from whom I 
have the facts. "The wounds in the hands were cauterized, 
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