THE D0&. 



DISEASES or THE BOG. 



Let US start with the most terrible of all. Hydrophobia ; 

 the most terrible, because, as says a celebrated dog-doctor, 

 " of the causes or treatment of the disorder we know nothing, 

 neither, considering the nature of the study, are we likely to 

 learn!" Where, then, is the use of writing on such a painful sub- 

 ject ? More uses than one, good reader. To enable you to recognize 

 in your own pet the earher stages of the disease, should it be 

 unluckily so afflicted ; to endeavour to demonstrate a fact which 

 it is to be feared is too little understood, that a rabid dog is not 

 a malicious enemy to mankind, but a poor, suffering brute, to 

 be regarded pitifully. 



The most graphic account of the commencement, progress, 

 and termination of Hydrophobia in the dog ever written, is to 

 be found, together with a wealth of other canine information, 

 in a work lately published by Mr. Edward Mayliew, M.E.C.V.S. 

 The description is so thoroughly excellent, that I shall take the 

 liberty of quoting it entire. 



" The dog that is going mad feels unwell for a long time prior 

 to the full development of the disease. He is very ill ; but ha 

 does not know what ails him. He feels nasty, dissatisfied with 

 everything, vexed without a reason, and, greatly against his 

 better nature, very snappish. Feeling thus, he longs to avoid 

 all annoyance by being alone. This makes him seem strange 

 to those unaccustomed to him. This sensation induces him to 

 seek solitude. But there is another reason that decides his 

 choice of a resting-place. The sun is to him an instrument of 

 torture, which he therefore studies to avoid, for his brain aches 

 and feels, as it were, a trembhng jelly. This induces the poor 

 brute to find out the holes and corners where he is least likely 

 to be noticed, and into which the light is unable to eater. If 

 his retreat be discovered, and his master's voice bid him come 

 forth, the countenance of the faithful creature brightens, his 

 tail beats the ground, and he leaves his hiding-place, anxious 

 to obey the loved authority ; but before he has gone half the 

 distance, a land of sensation comes over him which produces an 

 instantaneous change in his whole appearance. He seems to 

 say to himself, ' Why cannot you let me alone ? Go away — 

 do go away ! Tou trouble and pain me,' and thereon he sud- 

 denly turns tail, and darts back to his dark corner. If let 

 alone, there he wUl remain, perhaps frothing a little at the 



