536 
MISCELLANEA. 
Canine Madness. 
To the Editor of the “ Shrewsbury Chronicle.” 
Sir, — F rom a correspondence in a recent number, it appears 
that public attention has lately been occupied, with suggestions for 
the prevention of that dreadful malady, hydrophobia in man, 
when bitten by the rabid dog. I concur in the importance of cir- 
culating useful information on the subject, and would cheerfully 
contribute to assist in lessening the fears and in alleviating the 
sufferings of a disease the most terrible that can lord its dominion 
over man. In hydrophobia the patient does not, as it is bene- 
volently provided for us in most of the serious afflictions we inhe- 
rit, become insensible in mind; neither delirium nor repose-come 
to aid him by a happy oblivion of what he may have suffered or 
may expect, but in him the mental anguish is even more intense; 
the mind, in full vigour, struggles desperately with suffering and 
despair, and memory and consciousness bring the full measure of 
mental and bodily agony. Willingly would the spirit leave its 
habitation, but “whither shall I flee]” — alas, it can only be from 
suffering to despair, from misery to wretchedness ! Even hope, 
the last blessing, is gone from him. Therefore, while I admit 
the value of your contributions as to the necessity of the immediate 
excision and cauterization of the bitten part, yet I consider it even 
more important, in a public point of view, to render more popu- 
larly known the actual symptoms of the disease as seen in the 
dog — the animal to which seems to be deputed the desperate mis- 
sion of propagating it to man and beast. 
Although knowledge, medical science particularly, is so exten- 
sively disseminated, there is hardly any subject on which more 
ignorance exists than that of canine madness. It is the source of 
much distress of mind to those who have ever been bitten by a 
dog ; for there is a general opinion that, should the creature go 
mad at any subsequent period, yet perfectly free from disease 
at the time, the same dreadful fate awaits the bitten person. 
This is a gross error ; for unless the animal is rabid when it in- 
flicts the bite, it is impossible for hydrophobia to arise. In man, 
it cannot appear without inoculation from the bite or poison of a 
rabid animal. But, in the dog, it occurs from the bite of a rabid 
cat or dog, or produces itself in him spontaneously. It was demon- 
