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RABIES IN A HORSE. 
By R. H. Dyer, M.R.C.V.S., Waterford. 
A few weeks since I promised to send you an account of 
a case of rabies in a horse, but circumstances over which I 
have had no control have prevented my doing so till now. In 
the mean time I have been endeavouring to ascertain with 
certainty when the animal was bitten. No person can or will 
say, however, whether he was bitten or not, and the only 
evidence to be procured is that several mad dogs have been 
in the neighbourhood, and that many animals have been 
bitten, and, further, that in every case the animals so bitten 
were at once destroyed. 
According to the evidence it appears that the horse in 
question was taken ill on Saturday, February 22nd, on which 
day the owner applied to me for a colic draught, such as was 
sent to a neighbour of his a short time before. 
I made some inquiries as to the symptoms present, when 
he replied that the animal was in great pain, and had had no 
evacuation either from the bladder or bowels. He took with 
him an ordinary colic draught, which, however, did not afford 
any relief, for, on the following morning, Sunday, I was 
requested to see the horse ; he being sent to my place of busi¬ 
ness. When my attention was first directed to him, he was 
standing side by side with a mare, and I inquired how long 
he had been blind. The owner answered that he did not 
know he was blind, but that he had noticed something “ odd 
about him, 5 ' for he blundered about, and did not seem to 
know what he was doing. On my approaching him he 
snapped at me, which led me to inquire if he was in the habit 
of biting. The man answered in the negative. I said, “ He has 
an appearance akin to that of a mad dog. 55 The saliva was 
flowing from his mouth at this time. The moment I made 
use of the term mad dog neither the owner nor his servant 
would approach the animal. I suspected the horse had been 
bitten, but. I could not elicit from them any information to 
lead me to a correct decision. They merely said that a mad 
dog had passed through their premises about three weeks 
before, and it was known that he had bitten several animals in 
his progress. 
The symptoms present were as follows:—The horse was 
very restless, and snapping at everything within his reach, 
excepting the mare which was with him. He never attempted, 
that I am aware of, to injure her. On feeling his pulse 1 did 
not detect any marked peculiarity in it, excepting a prolonga- 
