694 
DEATH FROM THE BITE OF A CAT. 
willingly avoid if consistent with their duty — although I 
have often had the gratification of hearing men when they 
have .come up for the second time, after six months 5 further 
study, acknowledge the service the rejection had done them, 
in making them, through shame and a proper sense of honour, 
labour more diligently. I may also add, in order to remove 
another error, that it is of no pecuniary consequence to the 
examiners whether a student obtains his diploma or not. 
Their remuneration is the same for rejections as for admis- 
sions ; but those examiners only are paid who attend. 55 
DEATH FROM THE BITE OF A CAT. 
By George Allen, Esq. 
A report of the] following case has appeared in the local 
papers. I had intended to bring the subject before the 
annual meeting of the Bath and Bristol Branch, but was pre- 
vented by professional duties. I now publish the case, as a 
general reply to the numerous letters which I have received 
on the subject. 
Case. — On June 6th, 1853, I was called to see Richard 
Hunt, who was stated to have been bitten by a cat eight days 
previously. The statement given to me was, that the cat had 
been ill for some days, that it had refused food, was very 
thin, and had a noise in the throat resembling that of croup, 
with hurried laborious breathing. A lad had taken the cat by 
the tail for the purpose of killing it. Richard Hunt, passing 
at the time, seized it by the loins, when the cat bit the joint 
of his left thumb, which became very painful, and before 
night the hand and arm were swollen and inflamed. On the 
following morning, bladders of water had formed round the 
wound, hand, and arm, but he refused to have medical aid. 
Linseed-meal poultices and lotion had been applied to the 
hand, and some Epsom salts had been given to him, and to all 
appearance he was going on well, until the third night, when 
he got inebriated. After this period he did not complain of 
pain in the thumb ; the swelling of the hand and arm had 
subsided ; but shivering came on with pains all over him, 
accompanied by great difficulty of breathing. No medical aid 
was sought for until eight days after the accident. 
When I first saw him, on the morning of the 6th of June, 
I found him excessively nervous and dejected. The eyes 
were sunken, the breathing short, the pulse feeble. Upon 
