-HYDROPHOBIA, 383 
' 
that still has full power over the muscles of his j jaws continues to lap ; 
he knows not when to cease; while the poor fellow labouring under the 
dumb madness, presently to be described, and whose jaw and tongue are 
paralysed, plunges his muzzle into the water: dish to his very eyes, in 
order that he may get one drop of water into the back part of his mouth 
to moisten and to cool his dry and parched fauces. Hence, instead of 
this disease being always characterised by the dread of water in the dog, 
it is marked by a thirst often perfectly unquenchable. Twenty years 
ago this assertion would have been peremptorily denied. Even at the 
present day we occasionally meet with those who ought to know better, 
and who will not believe that the dog which fairly, or perhaps eee 
drinks can be rabid.”—Yovart, pp. 135,136. 
From my own experience I can fully confirm the above account, 
having seen seven cases of genuine rabies, in all of which thirst 
was present in a greater or less degree, and in five of which the 
disease was communicated to other dogs, 
If the rabid- dog is not molested, he will seldom attack any 
living object ; but the slightest obstruction i in his path is sufficient 
to rouse his fury, and he then bites savagely, and in the most un- 
reasoning manner, so as to be wholly uncontrollable by fear of the 
consequences. The gait, when at liberty, is a long trot, without 
any -deviation from the straight line, except what is peinulesey 
from the nature of the surrounding objects. 
The average time of the occurrence of rabies after the bite is, in 
the dog, from three weeks to six months, or possibly even longer ; 
so that a suspected case requires careful watching for at least that 
time ; but after three months the animal suspected to have been 
bitten may be considered tolerably safe. 
The duration of the disease is about four or five days, but I have 
myself known a case fatal in forty-eight hours. 
There is reason to hope that a cure for rabies has at length been 
discovered by M. Pasteur, in the dog as well as in man. It consists 
in inoculating the bitten patient ten or twelve times with rabic 
virus, diluted in strength by passing through the rabbit. This 
acts on the same principle as vaccination on small-pox, and it 
may be used on dogs in the same way to prevent as well as cure 
the disease. At present it is not generally introduced into Bie 
country, but. very shortly I expect it to be so. 
