House and Garden 
cases of rabies and he was anxious 
for it to be tried by the Bureau. 
Some of these madstones, properly 
called hair balls, are obtained from the 
stomachs of various wild and domestic 
animals. They are in some cases com¬ 
posed of matted hair which the animal 
has licked from its body and swallowed;' 
but in the majority of cases they consist 
of masses of vegetable fiber, such as the 
awns of clover and beards of grain, 
which have gradually collected over a 
considerable period of time and are 
formed into a spherical shape by the 
contraction of the gastric walls. Gall¬ 
stones, intestinal calculi, and in fact any 
porous stones may be used as madstones. 
After a person has been bitten the 
madstone is applied to the wound, and 
it is believed that the longer it adheres 
the more sure it is of preventing the 
disease. Whether it will stick or not 
depends entirely on the amount of hem¬ 
orrhage or discharge from the wound. 
Where this is profuse the blood infil¬ 
trates the meshes of the madstone, soon 
coagulates or dries, and tends to hold it 
in place, and it adheres for a considerable 
time under such circumstances. In 
these cases the virus is supposed to be 
removed and the treatment is heralded 
a success. On the other hand, where 
the wound is small and the discharge 
O 
slight there is nothing to hold the stone 
in place and it immediately falls off. 
Certain of these madstones have been 
held in families for three or four genera¬ 
tions and are guarded as carefully as any 
heirloom. Cases have been known 
where people have made long journeys 
and paid large sums of money to have a 
madstone applied. Its specific value 
against rabies is no greater than that of 
a piece of blotting paper applied in 
the same manner. The application of 
madstones gives the unenlightened pub¬ 
lic a false sense of security, and their use 
should be discouraged by all possible 
means. 
It is commonly believed that mad 
dogs will not go near water, and in case 
such an animal is seen to ford a creek 
or lake it is taken as proof that he did 
not have rabies. This fear of water is a 
symptom usually marked in human 
cases, but is never present in the dog 
at any stage of the disease. Animals in 
the early stages when running about the 
country will cross bodies of water with¬ 
out the slightest fear. Even after the 
throat becomes completely paralyzed 
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