292 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
= = 
[Nev. 6, 1884, 
hounds, it will be well to enforce that the difference between 
the German and Great Dane in its integrity, is the mastiff 
blood in the former, which, prevailing more or less, causes a 
yariety of opinions among the various breeders as to the trua 
type. The German dog should be bred up to a standard most 
fitted for its work. Strength and savaze fire should not be 
overlooked, At the same time speed must be diminished as 
little as possible, consistent with the stronger lines necessary: 
to secure power, and mere height should not ba so much aimed 
at. While the Great Dane possesses characteristics that have 
been marked through long ages, vast height and size being a 
typical peculiarity, this dog is longer and more elegant in its 
build. and approaches nearest to the smooth greyhoun?: in 
fact, has been considered by many naturalists as the connect- 
ing link between the greyhound and Molossian group. 
Whatever standard breeders may agree upon, the real type 
of the Great Dane is clearly defined In England, a great 
majority of the specimens that have been imported as Great 
Danes have been merely German boarhounds, and each owner 
holds his own possession the correct standard, regardless and 
generally totally ignorant of the true type of the Great Dane. 
But the canine atmosphere here is clearing. The Great Dane 
fanciers have formed themselyes into a club, On the other 
hand, owhers of the more wear and tear German boarhound 
are virtually excluded if a judge adheres to the standard for 
Great Danes, and this necessarily causes disappointment to 
some, who, hot regarding the grievance in the correct light, 
rush mto print, cavilat the awards and attack the judges. 
The matter wall be rectified I trust by the introduction of a 
German boarhound ¢lass, but these dogs should be bred on 
much the same lines as the large-sized bull-terrier, although a 
slightly more truncated muzzle is admissible, but any throati- 
ness or development of the dewlap is a fault: in fact, any un- 
necessary limber is a defect in the boarhound, as it militates 
against the speed of the animal, at the same time it is not pos- 
sible to breed a weight-carryine hunter or powerful boar- 
hound on as fine lines as a mere race horse for speed or grey- 
hound for coursing. In the Great Dane vast size is one of the 
chiet characteristics of the breed, and is best kepi up by breed- 
ing from unalhed sires. 
The colors are of little importance, the dark blue or slate 
with nebttlous or smoky darker colored patches aré almost 
peculiar to the breed, but the binghter colors are more 
picturesque. The haart is long and pointed, the nasal bone is 
elevated and elongated, and there is less divergement in the 
parietal lines than in the mastiff, The muzzle is more or less 
elongated, the jaws strong, but the inferior maxillary is less 
convex than in the mastii, which causss an appearance of Jess 
depth and strength in the muzzle. The teeth should 
be leyel or slightly overshot; the eyes small; lips free 
from any pendulosity; the ears are small, with more or less a 
tendency to erection when left uneropped; the neck long, 
muscular and free from throatiness; chest deep and narrow; 
thighs and back very muscular, loin inclined to be arched and 
flank somewhat tucked up, stern fine and curved down; feet 
not so cat-like as in the mastiff, as a Jong forearm and fetlock 
will generally be accompanied with longer toes, and a bare 
foot has more elasticity than a round one, the toes being more 
flexible are less liable to get broken than shorter ones. These 
points, though general, are alike in all three varieties; the 
German possessing less of the greyhound type than the Great 
Dane. The coat of the latter should be short and fine with a 
peculiar satin-like feel and appeardnce, the German dog 
aving a somewhat harder coat, The Suliot has a broken coat 
free from wooliness, curliness or silkiness, At the same time 
it is not exactly s hard wire hair. The Great Dane should be 
at least thirty-two inches at shoulder. The two other varieties 
not less than thirty, M, B. Wynn. 
Tur Ems, Roruury, Loughborough, England, Oct. is. 
THE KENNEL HOSPITAL. 
RABIES. 
| Oates isa contagious disease of the blood capable of 
| transmission to man and most warm-blooded animals, 
“Tt is,’ says Blaine, “unquestionably of great antiquity, for 
we have authentic accounts of it for more than two thousand 
years. It was described by Aristotle, and historians of every 
ace have left short but frightful records of its dreadful visita- 
tions.” In England it was described with some approach to 
recision by the celebrated sportsman, Mr. Meynell, but 
elabere Blaine, who very justly claimed to be “the father of 
canine pathology,” must be credited with the first really 
scientific account of the malady. He states that the disease 
“became very coramon in England, and abounded in the 
vicinity of London in 1806.” In 1820 it was again observed to 
be on the increase, and for three or four years continued 
alarmingly common. Since that time outbreaks have been 
recorded by Youatt and by Simonds; and recently Dr. George 
Fleming has published a monograph on the subject containing 
4 detailed account of the history and geographical distribution 
of the disease. Rabies now exists in every pat't of the world. 
excepting perhaps South Africa, Australia, and some islands. 
It is most common in the temperate zones, but has been seen 
in India and the Arctic regions. Its prevalence seems to 
depend not upon climatic infinences, but upon the facilities for 
its distribution. In those countries where its first appearance 
has happened in recent times, its origin is distinctly traceable 
to importel dogs. My otyvn experience commenced in 18h6, 
when rabies existed to a slight extentin London. In 1870 the 
disease assumed grave p oportions, and spread all over the 
kingdom, only subsiding in 1875. Toward the latter part of 
1883 an increase was again noticed in London; but this year, 
althou=h the disease still exists, it is less prevalent than it has 
been for many years. The great importance of a proper 
understanding about the disease is based, not upon its fatality 
to dogs, but upon its communicability to man, in whom it 
pectiucss hydropbobia. J cannot say exactly what the 
lnuan mortality amounts to from this cause, but a statement 
of Fleming’s, in his work on ‘'Veterinary Sanitary Science,” 
suggests that our preventative measures are not sufficiently 
stringent. It is that ‘‘since the annual loss of life from 
hydrophobia in Bngland has been recorded there appears to 
have been a progressive increase in the number of persons 
who have fallen victims to it.” This was written in 1874, and 
1 think the mortality had not then reached its maximum, A 
great deal of the loss of life, both human and animal, would 
be avoided if more correct ideas of the disease prevailed. The 
term madness as applied to the malady is most misleading, as 
it suggests that hie symp oms exhibited by a rabid animal 
must necessarily be those of violence and excitement, whereas 
quite half the cases are characterized by signs of a totally 
Opposite nature. ‘ Madness” also suggest that the disease is of 
the nervous class, depending upon some derangement of the 
brain, producible by various causes, This is a common error. 
Doge, so far as I know, suffer from no form of insanity; 
they never “‘goymad,” like human beings. From disease of 
the brain they may show symptoms of excitement, and suffer 
from convulsive aitections, but such disorders are not com- 
municable In any way to man or other dogs. The brain of a 
rabid dog is certainly affected, but only as a result of the 
disease; he may or may not show signs of violence, but in any 
case his system contains a virulent poison, capable, by inocula- 
tion, of causing a similar disease in other animals, The disease 
$ a specific contagions one, and all its symptoms are traceable 
io the effects of the specific virus in the blood, Like all other 
contagious diseases, its symptoms are not developed for somes 
time after the inoculation of the virus; there is a period of m- 
cubation—a time during’ which the poison remains latent. 
Although the whole body is affected, the poison seems to be 
chiéfly thrown off by the salivary glands, the secretion irom 
which is increased aud virulently infective. This special in- 
~ fectiousness of one product 'of the bedy'is seen 1m other con- 
tagious diseases, thus: in the distemper of dogs, the nasal dis 
charge; in small-pox of sheep or man, the pustules on the skin; 
in cholera, the intestinal discharge, are all pre-eminently the 
products specially loaded with the specific poison. 
Oauses.—A number of different causes have been stated as 
possible generators of rabies, Heat, thirst, starvation, and 
sexual excitement have all been credited as causes, but each 
has in innumerable cases failed to produce. it, while on the 
other hand rabies has over and over azain arisen in dogs not 
exposed to, or affected by, anyof these. We know that direct 
inoculation will produce the disease, and we can usually trace 
each attack to the bite of an infected dog. Tt is allowed by 
every one that cases arise in other domestic animals only as 
the result of direct inoculation, but some authorities hold that 
the disease may be “spontaneously generated,” or ‘developed 
primarily” in the canine, feline and vulpine animals. ‘his 
hypothesis rests solely upon the ground that rabies in animals 
or hydrophobia in man has been traced $o bites inflicted by 
dogs, cats, wolves, foxes, jackals, badgers and skunks. Wedo 
not deny the facts. Such avimals ere quite capable of causing 
the disease when they are themselves affected, They are 
capable of being infected, they have no immunity against the 
disease, and by biting they may communicate it. ‘The bites of 
such animals have been inflicted on others innumerable times 
with no morbid effect. The reason the carnivorous animal 
spreads the disease is simply that his habits and the form of 
his teeth are favorable to successful inoculation. The 
saliva of a man, a sheep or a horse is equally infective if 
properly inserted into the system. Their methods of 
aggression, and their organs or weapons of offense are, 
however, different. The carnivora in Australia, in South 
Africa, in Madeira, or St. Helena never cause rabies or hydro- 
phobia by their bites. Why? Because rabies has not yet 
been imported to these places. It is only in countries where 
rabies exists that wild animals inflict a wound capable of 
causing the specific disease. HKabies is said to arise in dogs 
whichhave certainly not been bitten by other dogs or ani- 
mals, When such eases are thoroughly inquired into, the pos- 
sibility and often the certainty of a bite is established, 
The fact of being unable to trace the method of communi- 
cation in five per cent. of cases is no argument in favor of 
spontaneous generation, nor is it illogical to conclude that the 
five cases were due to the same causes which obtained in the 
ninety-five. It has been suggested that excitement alone may 
cause changes in the saliya of an animal, rendering it poison- 
ous, and capable of producing disease. I know of no instance 
of such a thing, although quarrels and fights between dogs 
are common enough. All the positive evid-nee collected by 
obseryers points to one conciusion, viz., that rabies neyer 
arises spontaneously, but always and only from inoculation 
with the specifiepoison. Meynell, Blaine and Youatt all held 
this view. Fleming also adopts the same opinion. Quite re- 
cently Pasteur has succeeded in isolating the: specitie organism, 
which he finds chiefly in the saliva and the fluids of the brain. 
This organism he has been able to reproduce outside of an 
animal body in certain organie solutions, and to produce the 
disease by imoculation with these fluids. Such evidence, I 
think, it sufficient to prove that the disease is specific, de- 
pendent upon a definite organism, and capable of development 
by io other cause. The usual method of infection is by a 
wound into which the poisonous saliva is introduced by 
the tooth of the infected animal. It is possible, however, 
toineculate without.a bite. If the skin -be abraded, and dis- 
eased saliva reach theinjured spot, inoculation may oceur. 
In this way human beings haye been infected by rabid dogs 
licking their hands and faces. There is no danger of the 
oison entering the system through the sound unbroken skin, 
But it is probable that the mucus surfaces, such asthe mem- 
branes of the nose, mouth and eyes, are not impervious. 
It is doubtful if inoculation can be effected with the blood 
or flesh of diseased animals, and 1t seems to be established that 
the milk of rabid goats and cows is harmless. Therabid virus 
robably retains its potency for a considerable time if dried, 
But soon succumbs to decomposition if kept moist, After 
the death of an animal the saliva retains its activity for a few 
hours, but has never been successfully inoculated thirty hours 
after death. When successful inoculation of an animal with 
rabies has taken place, a variable time elapses before any 
symptoms of disease are manifested. This “period of incuba- 
tion” in the dog isusua ly from three to six weeks, never less 
than eight days, but itmay be prolonged to three or fou 
months, and there are authenticated cases of ib reaching 
twelve months, This period may be shortened by anything 
which assists in developing the disease. A sudden fright, the 
infliction of great pain or the advent of some other disease, 
have al] been known to cause the developmet of rabies in an 
inoculated dog. As arule the period of incubation is shorter 
| in young that in old dogs. In most diseases of a contagious 
nature animals are found capable of resisting the infection. 
In rabies I fear no animal has an immunity against a posi- 
tiveinoculation. Many bites do not inoculate, but if the specific 
poison be really introduced into the blood, the disease follows. 
More than half the bites inflicted by rabid animals are harm- 
less, but only because the yirus had not been introduced, 
Hither the teeth were cleaned by passin2 through hair or 
clothing, or they happened to be free from a coating of saliva, 
The bites of wolves are said to be more often fatal than the 
bites of dogs. This is explained by the fact that the wolf flies 
at uncovered parts, such as hands and face, It is very difficult 
sometimes to know when a dog has been bitten, A dog is 
attacked by another one and apparently bitten, yet no wound 
can be found. The long canine tooth may cause a deep wound 
without any escape ot blood, and such wound on a long-haired 
dog is almost impossible to find, If the biter be a stray dog 
suspicion is justifiable. Ifit be a known dog no anxiety need 
be felt, if it be alive and well a week after its aggression, 
Its Symptoms.—The signs of rabies are by no means too 
clear, lt is quite true that a well-defined case can be mistaken 
for no other disease; but there are cases which, especially at 
the commencement, it is almost impossible to positively 
identify. Itis most essential that the disease should be de- 
tected in its earliest stazes, so as fo prevent serious results to 
man and other animals; therefore, it is a safe rule to secure 
any dog which shows symptoms of a suspicious kind. Symp- 
toms are su-picious if they resemble these commonly seen in 
undoubted cases of rabies, There isnot one single symptom 
which can be called diagnostic. No single symptom is shown 
by a rabid dog which isnot also occasionally seen in the ani- 
malas the result of other morbid conditions. Often such 
symptoms can be readily accounted for, or they may be ac- 
companied by other signs which enable usto say they are only 
evidence of a simple disorder. When, however, any sympton 
commonly associated with the rabid condition 1s exhibited by 
a dog, it should be considered suspicious, and the animal be 
placed ina position where it can dono harm if the terrible 
It is customary to describe 
certain symptoms as premonitory; but should dis- 
card the word altogether. There is but too much 
reason to believe that from the time of the earliest appearance 
of any sign of the disease the dog is potentially a dangerous 
animal, e know that there is a period of incubation follaow- 
ing infection, during which, although the poison is in the sys- 
tem, itis apparently latent. We can only detect the change 
from this latent condition to an active one by certain sighs 
which experience has taught us arise asthe result of this 
change. We have no reason to doubt that morbid changes in 
the saliya, giving it an infective potency, are among the earli- 
est changes due to the development of the disease., Numerous 
cases have been recorded showing that no infection can arise 
Certainly the 
robable that even the blood is 
ara tie die joned be a 
only a short time before any signs of the developed disease 
are noticed, ‘al tporsa all its effects; although it must 
have been made from the blood in which we suppose 
mimalady become developed. 
from a dog during the period of incubation. 
saliva is harmless, and itis 
innocuous. The offspring o. 
to bites but I have often noticed 
— 
the latent poison existed. Bites inflicted by dogs 
during their period of imeubation are harmless, but 
bites inflicted in the earliest stage of the developed 
disease haye bsen fatal, It is then an error to deseribe any 
symptoms of rabies as premonitory. If the word be used in a 
comparative sense, implying that in the earliest stages of the 
dise1se the dog is less dangerous, I assent, He islessdangerous 
beeause more controllable. He has the power to inflict injury, 
but not the morbid impulse to do so which characterizes him 
later, when the disease becomes fully. developed. All of this is 
simply an argument to enfores the advice to secure a dog that 
shows any suspicious symptom until time has determined 
its significance. The disease does not last Jong, Nearly every 
dog affected diés in four days. [have neyer seen or heard of 
one that survived the seventh day alter the uppearance of 
disease was first noticed, Inno case then will it be necessary 
to secure a dog for more than a week to obtain absolute 
evidence of his condition, and consequently to safely estimate 
the gravity or innccence of any bité he may have inflicted 
upon human beings or other animals. Hor want of thissimple 
precaution many persons have suffered months of anxiety, 
and dogs have been shot when bitten by their companions 
who suffered only from some temporary derangement, 
The earliest symptoms of rabies are changes in the habits 
or manners of the dog, I shall consider them seriatim, and in 
the order in which they are most commonly observed; but T 
again repeat that none of them are premonitory, and that 
cases arise in which at the very commencement we see signs 
not usually noticed till the disease has welladvancel. Changes 
of manner or habit may be shown by restlessness and irrita- 
bility. The dog constantly changes his position from place to 
place in a room, and from xyoom to roomin a house, ‘There is 
a tendency to hide away in corners or under articles of furni- 
ture. A hitherto good-tempered animal suddenly develops an 
animosity to other dogs, or perhaps to a cat with whom he 
hag been goou friends, The change of manner may be devel- 
oped in an opposite direction, and the dog become unusually 
aitectionate, licking the hands and face of its owner, if per- 
mitted, to an ordinate degree, ‘ 
Vary often a peculiar morbid taste is developed which leads 
the dog: to pick up and swallow straws, pieces of thread, or 
wood, This is even carried to the extentof chewing and swal- 
lowing cinders, fragments of pot and other strange articles. If 
the animal be confined in a room he will gnaw the door, car- 
pets, or mats, and sometimes totally desiroy every tearable 
article in the Sia Licking, scratching, or syen gnawing 
some partof the body isasymptom often noticed early in 
rabies, This part marks the spot at which inoculation took 
place, and sometimes retains the scar caused by the bite. 
There can be little doubt that when the general symptoms be- 
come apparent some pain or irritation is frequently felt in the 
part originally bitten. Thisis rather 1emarkable, and sup- 
gested to Blaine the question whether the poison of rabies 
may not lie dormant in the inoculated spot forsome time. 
That the irritation is great at that pait in some cases is shown 
by the almost constant licking, so constant as to remove the 
hair entirely and to inflame the skin. Scratching is only re- 
sorted to when the part is out of reach of the teeth, Gnawing 
‘is not so common, byt there are many cases recorded, and J 
have seen three in which the leg or foot was gnawn to the 
bone. In Paris, a dog, which was inoculated in the tail 
by the bite of a rabid dog, is related to haye first 
enawed and finally bitten off and eaten -the injured 
member. Hating their own feces and lapping their own 
urine are two symptoms often seen in rabies, and of special 
value as being very rare accompaniments of any other 
complaint, Sexual excitement also may occur, but is more 
often seen as a sign of rabies in the sheep than the dog. Catch- 
ing at flies or snapping at imaginary objects are symptoms to 
be treated with grave suspicion. When some or a number of 
these symptoms have existed for a day, or perhaps two, a 
change in the expression of a dog is noticeable. The eye 
seems fixed as though vision were directed to some distant 
object. There is a somewhat subdued or sullen manner, from 
which the master’s yoice easily arouses the animal, but which 
is speedily resumed. If the dog be contined by a chain, and 
eyen more so it he be placed in a cage, the symptoms are more 
rapidly developed, and the ivritabilitty marsing the disease 
more positively shown, He will fly at the cage or bars and 
shake them so violently as to break either them or his teeth. 
A stick pointed at him is immediately seized, and even the 
most timid dogs show little or no fear when threatened with 
whip or stick. Howling is an extremely suspicious symptom. 
Owing to the inflamed condition of the throat the voice is 
much altered. The half-bark, nalt-howl of the rabid dog is 
very expressive to those who have once heard it, and its tone 
is due to the spasmodically-aiffected and sore throat. Many 
dogs howl when provoked (or pleased‘) by music; some howl at 
the moon, and some when merely confined in a strange place, 
The rabid dog howls when loose or confined, and without any 
apparent provocation. He does not do it contimuously, but at 
short intervals. 
Inability te swallow does not often appear early, as shown 
by the curious objects nearly always to be found in the 
stomachs of dogs which have died of rabies. Ibis, however, 
pretty carly noticed. Not only does this apply to solids, but 
also to liquids. Thirst is usually present, and attempts to 
drink are frequently made, with the result that the water is 
upset, and what is left in the basin becomes dirty and thick 
from admixture of saliva. It is Hardly necessary now ta 
repeat that rabid dogs display no dread of water. This dan- 
gerous old fallacy has been the cause of much mischief and 
more risk, The disease in the human subject is accompanied 
by the symptom of dread of water, and, is, theretore, called 
hydrophobia, At the beginning of this century, Dr. Parry, of 
Bath, wrote on hydrophobia, and, apparently arguing irom 
analogy instead of observation, stated that dogs showed a 
dread of water, aud thus the disease might be diagnosed trom 
any other. Blaine, who was a Conuan Bor an, poilited out the 
error, but, unfortunately, some medical men and sportsmen in 
the west of England adopted Dr. Parry’s mistake. 
Among others, the Berkeley family clung to the fiction, and 
save the weight of their names as practical sportsmen to the 
pure hypothesis of a scientific writer, No one did so much to 
spread the error far and wide as the late Hon. Grantley F. 
erkeley, who made the subject a hobby, and lost no oppor- 
tunity of BAT easing, the fiction by letters in the aay papers. 
That rabid dogs have no dread of water, but that they have 
an inability to swallow. is now so clearly establishe that 
to dwell longer upon it would be simply “fogging a dead 
horse,” Pawing tle cheeks and lips is an peta symptom, 
as its significance is often mistaken. Ifa dog gets anything 
lodged in his teeth, or even if he have a toothache, he paws 
his lips and cheéks, and the moyement is so suggestive that 
our attention is ab ones directed to it, and we naturally look 
for the offending agent. Now, ib rabies the saliva becomes 
altered in quality eveh more than quantity. Tt assumes a 
yiscid, ropy form, and hangs from the mouth in long strings. 
These get fixed on the teeth, tongue, and lips, ivitate the dos, 
and cause him to attempt their removal with his paws. Dis- 
trust a dog that paws his mouth if he has shown any other 
suspicious symptom, and be careful in handling such an ani- 
mal until you have positive evidence that the movement is 
really dus to a foreign body lone inthe teeth. Paralysis of 
the lower jaw may arise from a blow on the side of the head 
injurmg the motor nerve. I have only seen one case of this 
kind, and certainly at first thought it was due torabies. The 
dog was secured, gradually recovered, and was quite well in a 
few days. 
Ty perhaps half the cases of rabies one sees, thers is loss of 
Bonet od crepe of ae lower jaw shies 3 3 one the ie 
ease. en it arises early the patient is always quiet 
for a few hours betore death. Neat Mall such as sare unable 
hat excitement and provo. 
