AND REMARKS ON THAT DISEASE. 
335 
did 1 . The degree of passion probably depends, in some measure, 
upon the natural temper : the rage of this boy was ungovernable; 
and I learnt that he was always a very violent and cruel fellow 2 . 
There is also a general anguish of the mind : he is the subject 
of extreme alarm and suspicion, and the countenance of this boy 
fully expressed this 3 . 
1 The general morbid irritability is plain enough in the dog. 
He is incessantly in action, making and unmaking his bed twenty 
times in an hour; starting at every sound ; in the furious stage, 
darting at every object within his reach ; tearing to pieces his rug 
or bed; demolishing all the wood-work at which he can get, taking 
offence at the slightest provocation; and howling every moment. 
A dog in the mild stage of the disease is frequently shifting his 
posture; in the furious stage, he is truly an object of terror. The 
dog that is naturally mild and tractable, will possibly fly 
fiercely at strangers; but he respects those to whom he has 
been accustomed, or if, led away for a moment by the irre¬ 
sistible propensity to bite, he mumbles or w r ounds the hand or 
foot of his master, he immediately crouches at his feet, and seems 
to ask pardon.—W. Y. 
2 In the first volume of The Veterinarian, page 29, is a 
commentary on this :—“ The desire to do mischief depends 
much on his previous disposition: it often proceeds not beyond 
an occasional snap, and then only wdien purposely irritated. But 
with the fighting-dog the scene is terrific: he springs to the end 
of his chain; he darts with ferocity at some object w T hich he 
conceives to be within his reach, and is eagerly employed in de¬ 
stroying every thing around him. If he escapes, he will diligently 
and perseveringly seek his prey; and will overcome every obstacle 
to effect his purpose/’ 
Within the last three months we have seen more than sixty 
cases of rabies in the dog. Several of them were fighting-dogs, 
and a great majority had been bitten by those ferocious and 
useless animals the bull-dog, or the bull-terrier. The poor fellow 
whose case is here recorded was bitten by a strange terrier. It 
is high time that the legislature should interfere to remove this 
insufferable nuisance. These sinks of iniquity, the dog-pits, could 
surely be put down by law ; and a heavy tax, and rigorously 
exacted, on every dog of this description, or wilfully used for 
the purpose of fighting, would reform the morals and save the 
lives of many of his majesty’s subjects.—W. Y. 
3 u The earliest symptoms of madness in the dog are sullen¬ 
ness—a steadfast gaze, expressing suspicion, but when directed 
on the master soon clearing up, and followed by some action in¬ 
dicating affection. ”— Veterinarian, vol. i, p. 29. 
