DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 25.5 



it in administering all the taIked-o£ remedies that have from 

 time to time cropped up. 



Prevention is at all times better than cure, and when rabies 

 makes its appearance in a kennel, isolation of the apparently 

 healthy or unbitten ones I strongly recommend, until a suffi- 

 cient period has elapsed to prove they have escaped inocula- 

 tion. . With regard to ourselves, all dog-bites, as a precautionary 

 measure, should be treated as if they were inflicted by a rabid 

 animal — i.e., by immediate suction, followed by the applica- 

 tion of- the actual cautery or nitric acid. When rabies is 

 suspected, the suction should be directly followed by com- 

 plete excision of the wound, performed as quickly as possible ; 

 after which, without loss of time, the cautery or acid should 

 be freely used. Compression above the wound, especially in 

 the first instance, is also valuable. 



The same measures, excepting the suction, which to some 

 degree might be done with a cupping-glzss, will apply to a 

 dog bitten under suspicious circumstances. 



Many unfortunate animals arc condemned as rabid, through 

 the ignorance of inexperienced persons (see " Epilepsy.") 

 The cry of " Mad Dog," nowadays, is quite sufficient to cause 

 an excited mob to hunt down a poor harmless creature who 

 has perchance lost his master, and in fear and excitement 

 frantically seeks for him up one thoroughfare and down an- 

 other. Panting and distressed, he at last falls exhausted, or 

 is compelled to rest : truncheons, bludgeons, brooms, etc., or 

 a revolver, are brought to bear on the luckless animal, and 

 often brutal is the torture inflicted before the supposed mad 

 dog is put out of danger. 



In occupying so much space with this subject (Rabies), as 

 compared with the majority o£ diseases contained in this 

 work, I can but plead as my excuse the immense and vital 

 importance of acquiring a thorough and unprejudiced knowl- 

 edge of this fearful canine scourge, and more especially as at 

 the present time we are being continually reminded of its 

 presence. Publicly and professionally, hydrophobia and 



