CHAPTER VIII. 
rabies. tetanus. tuberculosis. 
Rabies. 
Rabies is a specific disease caused by the introduction into the 
system of a specific poison, through the bite of an animal, generally 
that of a dog, but jackals and wolves may also communicate it. It 
is a rare affection amongst elephants. The following case w^as com- 
municated to Dr. Gilchrist by a mahout personally acquainted with 
the facts : — " A mad dog, about five years ago, appeared in the 
elephant lines at Hyderabad. It attempted to bite several elephants, 
but was by each driven away. During the night it attacked an 
elephant when asleep and bit it on the trunk. The bite marks having 
been distinctly observed next day, a little oil was applied, but nothing 
more was done and nothing particular occurred till a month after the 
infliction of the bite, when decided symptoms of delirium, as 
described under the head ' Ahren Bhao,' suddenly supervened. 
During the first three days the animal took fodder, ratib and water, 
but afterw^ards took nothing. It did not appear to be afraid of water, 
as it drew it into its trunk and squirted it about, but did not drink 
any. It continued furious for two days, not allowing even the 
mahout to approach, after which it fell down and died suddenly. 
On the same occasion another elephant died fifteen days after the 
one above alluded to, with the same symptoms, but it was not clearly 
known whether the animal had been bitten by the dog, though it was 
one of those it attempted to bite. The above cases occurred about 
the month of October. A man and bullock had been bitten by the 
same dog, and both died mad." 
Quite recently a most interesting case came under the observa- 
tion of Mr. H. F. Bowden, Bombay Burma Trading Corporation, to 
whom I am indebted for notes on the case. 
On the 8th of June 1909, while a young trained calf was being 
bathed in a creek, a stray dog, said to be mad, was being chased 
by the villagers of Thabya-bin village. The dog ran towards the 
calf ; on seeing the animal approaching she got up and, as the dog 
was passing, made a charge. The dog sprang at the elephant inflict- 
ing a severe bite under the left eye and made off. As the dog 
was reported to have bitten three villagers and some cattle, precaur 
tionary measures were taken, i.e.^ the animal was removed to the 
