ItABIES IN THE DOG. — SYMPTOMS. 
449 
have quoted, I hesitate not to assert, that this excessive thirst — * 
the standing over the water-pan for three, four, and five minutes 
— the return to it six or eight times in an hour — the spending of a 
very considerable time in the attempt to obtain a little water, is 
as unerring a proof of rabies as any thing that I have mentioned. 
I should want nothing more to determine my opinion than these 
frequent visits to the water-pan — the length of time spent at each 
visit — the small quantity of water that, after all, vanished, and 
thick frothy scum that was left on its surface. 
Occasional Dread of Water. — Do I, then, mean to deny the 
dread of water in the dog ? No ; I have seen it. I have had 
this proof of the identity of the disease in the human being and 
the brute. I will relate an instance or two — they may be useful. 
Cases. March 9th, 1814. — I saw a setter, belonging to Count 
Munster. He had been apparently quite well the night before. 
He was now breathing quickly and hardly. The chest and belly 
hot — the ears and paws cold. He had been costive two days. 
Some appearance of wildness and anxiety in the countenance, 
but he is perfectly gentle, and, indeed, eager to be noticed and ca- 
ressed. It seemed to be an attack of fever, without recognizable 
local determination. Give aperient ball and injection - and a 
fever-ball in the evening. 
1CM. — The medicine has operated, and the dog was thought 
to be better. The breathing was not so laborious, but I heard 
with fear an inward harsh, grating sound that I had not ob- 
served yesterday. The mouth, too, was not perfectly closed — 
slight spasms could be perceived on the cheek and the upper 
part of the neck and he refused all food. I immediately suspect- 
that he was becoming rabid, although he was as gentle as a 
lamb, and went from his master to me, and from me to his mas- 
ter, laying his head on our knees, and soliciting our notice, and 
probably imploring us to relieve him from a fearful apprehension 
and feeling that weighed heavily on his mind. Suspend all me- 
dicine. 
11th. — The case is too plain. The lower jaw is dependent, 
and the tongue protrudes two or three inches, and is of a leaden 
colour, darkening towards the tip. He is eager to drink, and 
plunges his whole face into the water, and tries to lap for a se- 
cond or two ; then a spasm, horrible beyond description, seizes 
him : it lasts for half a minute, and he is himself again. Five 
minutes afterwards he approaches the water again, and plunges 
his muzzle into it, and again suddenly snatches himself away with 
an expression of alarm that I shall not easily forget. He died 
in the course of the night. 
