688 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE ON CANINE MADNESS. 
from other dogs, the dogs so bitten do not become rabid; they 
have a disease which destroys them, but not one which renders 
them rabid; but this is a point which has not been satisfactorily 
investigated by a continuance of inoculation from one dog to 
another. My belief is, that it is the same disease that is propa¬ 
gated from one to the other. 
If the former opinion is found to be true, will it not very much 
diminish the danger of mad dogs?—Undoubtedly ; but it would 
be very dangerous to make such experiments, and I am not aware 
of any satisfactory experiment having' hitherto been made. 
Can you state at what period of the disorder, when the dog is 
affected, that virus is first capable of causing infection ?—I cannot 
state positively ; in the many instances I have inquired into, from a 
fortnight to three weeks after the dog was bitten have elapsed 
before he has become affected ; but generally the dog is affected 
in a shorter time than is the case w ith human subjects. 
Do you consider that the dog is capable of communicating in¬ 
fection before the symptoms of the disease are apparent ?—I 
should imagine not. 
Have you seen many cases of persons bitten by dogs lately ? 
Yes; only on Saturday last there were six who applied at St. 
Bartholomew ’s Hospital; and we have had ten or twelve in the 
course of the w eek. 
Have the number of persons who have applied been larger this 
year than before?—Certainly. 
Much larger ?— I should think considerably larger ; but there 
is a great alarm prevailing, and every person who has been bitten 
immediately applies to have the part removed. 
From the accounts given by those people, do you think that 
a la rge proportion of those w ere bitten by dogs which were mad, 
or dogs whichwerenotmad ?—In many instances it w 7 as impos¬ 
sible to ascertain, as the dogs w ere unknown to the parties. 
Have there been many instances in which, according to their 
statement, the probability w r as, that the dogs w ere mad ?—In the 
majority of instances where the operation has been performed, 
there w as reason to suppose that the dogs were mad. 
Have you, in any of those cases, actually known the dog to 
die mad?—Not lately; but I have in other instances, some 
years ago. I can mention one instance particularly, in which 1 
was concerned, where a dog had bitten five individuals in one 
family, and where the animal died of the disease, and some 
curious circumstances occurred after its death. I inoculated 
two rabbits from the saliva of the dog after death, and was 
particularly anxious to observe the result, in consequence of one 
of the individuals above alluded to having been bitten five days 
