216 KENNEL DISEASES. 
As long as they can swallow, their mouths are hot and perfectly dry, and it is 
only after there is difficulty in doing so that the saliva is discharged. Even 
then it is not in the form of foam, but instead it is stringy and tenacious, or in 
other words, thick and ropy. 
Early in the disease the desire for food nearly, if not entirely, disappears, 
and it is only rarely and during the first hours that the victim will touch even 
the most toothsome morsels when offered him. But, as said, he will try to eat, 
and often swallows in large quantities, small stones, bits of coal, hair, straw, 
etc. He also has a very decided tendency to devour filth and excreta of all 
kinds, and has even been known to eat portions of dead dogs. 
The indigestibles mentioned remaining in the stomach, that presents after 
death a condition characteristic of the malady. 
As it progresses, emaciation rapidly supervenes, the appearance of the suf- 
ferer is sadly changed and most repulsive, even appalling. His coat is staring; 
his skin is drawn tightly over the ribs, and abdomen tucked up. Frequently 
his head has swollen, and his eyes, which have sunken into their cavities, are 
brilliant and glistening. The lining of his mouth, dry and parched, has as- 
sumed a purplish color; while on his tongue there is a thick, brownish coating, 
and his nostrils are glued with a foul and offensive matter. During the inter- 
vals of prostration he breathes quite naturally, but in the paroxysms of excite- 
ment his respiration is hurried and jerking. 
The duration of the maniacal stage is generally not longer than three days, 
although it may extend into the fourth, and very rarely into the fifth day. As 
the unfortunate is weakened and the paroxysms grow less severe and distinct, 
the disease merges into the so-called paralytic stage. The change in appear- 
ance now becomes more striking — surprisingly so considering the short time 
that has passed since the first symptoms were manifested. The eyes have be- 
come dim; the tongue, now purplish, protrudes; emaciation has reduced the 
victim to a mere skeleton; and he presents a heartrending picture. He stag- 
gers and stumbles blindly about his quarters, until increasing exhaustion at last 
overpowers him. He still snaps or bites at things used to arouse him; but, 
strength departing, his efforts are more and more feeble. His breathing is 
short and labored. He barks at times, but his voice is nearly lost. He passes 
into a stupor, or possibly into a partial or complete convulsion, and soon death 
mercifully closes the scene. 
Always rapid, the different stages of rabies may be passed and death ensue 
on the second day, or life be prolonged until the tenth day; but the latter, set 
as the limit, is very rarely indeed reached, and from four to five days is the 
common duration. 
The dumb or sullen form of rabies, which constitutes from fifteen to twenty 
per cent of the total number of cases, is but a peculiar type of the disease, 
which runs a much shorter course, and without the violent or irritative stage. 
