occurs spontaneously, limit its origin to the animals included in the two genera canis and felis. Of these the dog and cat are the only two sources from which we have much to fear, because they are constantly with us. The fox, indeed, is not rare in England, and may bite dogs and cats; but the danger from that source is not great. The wolf has long ceased to prowl about our forests. As for lions, tigers, and panthers, it is our fault if we place ourselves in their reach; and although a mad lion would doubtless be a formidable beast, yet, perhaps, the lion in perfect health will be quite as eagerly avoided.

Inasmuch as the disease may be communicated to all animals, there is no practical interest in the question of its origin. No sooner, therefore, is any one bitten by a dog or cat, than immediate recourse should be had to the following simple precautions First, he should ascertain, if possible, whether the animal manifests, or has manifested, the signs of rabies; and secondly, having satisfied himself of the madness of the animal, he should place himself at once in the hands of a surgeon. If he have no means of ascertaining the condition of the dog, he had better assume the existence of

rabies, and have the bitten part cut out, for safety. But when, as mostly happens, there can be an inquiry made respecting the dog's condition, it would be exposing himself to needless suffering to rush at once to the surgeon. To save men from this needless suffering, and from the still greater pain of terrible anxiety, which in itself will sometimes produce insanity, the widest publicity should be given to a knowledge of the invariable and characteristic signs of rabies. People must clear their minds of all the common errors which the ignorance of ages has accumulated on this subject. They must learn steadily to discredit those opinions which have hitherto formed their superstitions, and engrave deeply on their memories the certainties of scientific observation and experiment.

It is indeed of great importance that the public at large should know that the characteristic signs of rabies are as certainly recognisable as are the signs of measles or smallpox. There are absolute and invariable tests by which we may prove the existence of the disease; and there are several premonitory symptoms, which, once observed, may warn us in time to escape all danger. These we shall now proceed to describe.

One of the earliest signs, and one which should always arouse attention on the part of those in charge of a dog, is a sullenness combined with fidgetiness. It may, of course, be due to some other malady than rabies; but it is a symptom to be watched. When it means rabies, the dog retires to his bed or basket for several hours, and may be seen there curled up, his face buried between his paws and breast. He shows no disposition to bite, and will answer to the call, but he answers slowly and sullenly. After a while he becomes restless, seeking out new resting-places, and never satisfied long with one. He then

returns to his bed, but continually shifts his posture. He rises up and lies down again, settles his body in a variety of positions, disposes his bed with his paws, shaking it in his mouth, bringing it to a heap, on which he carefully lays his chest, and then rises up and bundles it all out of his kennel or basket. If at liberty, he will seem to imagine that something is lost, and he will eagerly search round the room with strange violence and indecision. That dog should be watched. he begins to gaze strangely about him as he lies in bed, and if his countenance is clouded and suspicious, we may be certain that mad

If

ness is coming on. Sometimes he comes to those whom he loves, and fixes on them a steadfast gaze, as if, according to Mr Youatt, he would say, "I feel strangely ill; have you nothing to do with it?"*

The observation of all veterinary surgeons proves that not only is there no great disposition to bite manifested in the early stages of the disease, except by dogs naturally ferocious, but that, on the contrary, there is an increase of affectionateness often shown. Mr Youatt specially notices this. "In the early stages of rabies," he says, "the attachment of the dog towards his owner seems to be rapidly increased. He is employed almost without ceasing licking the hands, or face, or any part he can get at." Nay, even in the last and most violent stages of the disease, some dogs show no disposition to bite. Mr Youatt says that the finest Newfoundland dog he ever saw became rabid from the bite of a cur. He became dull, disinclined to play, and refused all food. He was continually watching imaginary objects, but did not snap at them. He offered himself to be caressed, and was not satisfied unless he was shaken by the paw. He watched every passing object with peculiar anxiety, and followed with deep attention the motions of his old friend, the horse. "I went to him," adds Mr Youatt, "and patted and coaxed him, and he told me as plainly as looks and actions and a somewhat deepened whine could express it, how much he was gratified. I saw him on the third day. He was evidently dying. He could not even crawl to the door of his temporary kennel; but he pushed forward his paw a little way, and as I shook it, I felt the tetanic muscular action which accompanies the departure of life." M. Sanson narrates a similar case, and expresses his conviction that if the rabid animal were kept sequestered from all

exciting provocations, it would gradually die without once manifesting any of the fury of madness.

On the other hand, it should be remembered that there are rabid dogs whose ferocity knows no bounds. If they are threatened with a stick, they fly at it, seize and furiously shake it. They are incessantly employed in darting to the end of their chain, and attempting to crush it with their teeth. They tear their kennel to pieces. The sight of another dog especially excites their fury. But although the ferocious animal early manifests this fury, we must guard against the common error of waiting for such a manifestation. The early symptoms of fidgetiness, sullenness, anxiety, or affectionate importunity, are equally to be attended to. No animal goes mad suddenly. There are always several stages of premonitory symptoms. Among these there is one not always shown, but generally, and quite conclusive: it is hallucination.

Many readers who have no hesitation in speaking of the madness of animals, will be startled at hearing that animals are subject to hallucinations, like human beings. Every veterinary surgeon, however, knows this to be the case. Mr Youatt narrates that he was once consulted by a medical man about a

dubious case: a dog had bitten a gentleman, who thought it could not be mad, because it had no fear of water. But from the obvious signs of hallucination exhibited by the dog, Mr Youatt had no doubt whatever that there was rabiesand so it proved. The same writer says, I have again and again seen the rabid dog start up after a momentary quietude, with unmingled ferocity depicted on his countenance, and plunge with a savage howl to the end of his chain. At other times he would stop and watch the nails in the partition of the stable in which he was confined, and, fancy

ing them to move, he would dart at them, and occasionally sadly bruise and injure himself."

Not only are the animals subject to hallucinations, but these hallucinations appear to be very similar to those which assail hydrophobic patients. Men not unfrequently imagine that a cloud of flies assaults them. "The patient," says Mr Laurence, "is pursued by a thousand phantoms, that intrude themselves upon his mind; he holds conversation with imaginary persons; he fancies himself surrounded with difficulties, and in the greatest distress. These thoughts seem to pass through his mind with the greatest rapidity, and to keep him in the greatest distress, unless he is quickly spoken to or addressed by his name, and then in a moment the charm is broken; every phantom disappears, and at once he begins to talk as calmly and connectedly as if in perfect health." This seems to be exactly the case of the rabid dog. He may be watching imaginary objects, snapping at them, or cowering in terror from imaginary foes, yet in this state a word from his master recalls him in a moment. "Dispersed by the magic of his master's voice," says Mr Youatt, every object of terror disappears, and he crawls towards him with the same peculiar expression of attachment that used to characterise him. Then comes a moment's pause-a moment of actual vacuity; the eye slowly closes, the head droops, and he seems as if his fore-feet were giving way, and he would fall but he springs up again; every object of terror once more surrounds himhe gazes wildly round-he snaps he barks, and rushes to the extent of his chain, prepared to meet his imaginary foe." Sometimes the hallucination is of a pleasing kind, as may be seen in the brightening countenance and wagging tail; but oftener there is a gloomy or terrified expression, showing that the vision is distressing.

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Some authorities deny this tendency to hallucination, nor can it

be called a constant symptom, either in man or dog. But it has been too often and too accurately observed for us to doubt it. M. Sanson entirely concurs with Mr Youatt on this point; and M. Duluc, the veterinary surgeon of Bordeaux, cites the following case in his own practice:-In 1845 he was summoned to see a little dog which was thought to be mad, having bitten an old woman the day before, and that morning attacked several dogs. It had previously shown a very gentle and caressing disposition, which made these attacks suspicious. "When I entered the room," says M. Duluc, "it was lying on a chair: it turned on me a strange indefinable gaze, expressive at once of sadness and fury, and this gaze was fixed on me for at least ten minutes; it then turned away its head, the eyelids closed, and it seemed asleep. Soon afterwards the weight of the head seemed to topple it over, and the dog fell on the floor, where it rolled itself up into a ball. The next moment its eyes were open, and it dashed several times against the wall. It was again placed on the chair, and again fell on the floor. In the space of about half an hour it sprang up eight times, and rushed violently at the wall, as if to seize some enemy."

Another early symptom, easily recognisable, is a violent scratching of the ear. But it is necessary to observe two or three details which distinguish this as a symptom of rabies. A dog frequently scratches its ear; and there is one disease called canker, which gives it great annoyance. The dog is incessantly scratching, and while doing so cries piteously. How then are we to discriminate this from the same symptom in rabies? Mr Youatt will tell us.

"Is this dreadful itching a thing of yesterday, or has the dog been subject to canker, increasing for a considerable period? Canker, both external and internal, is a disease of slow growth, and must have been long neglected before it will torment the patient in the manner I

have described. The question as to the length of time that an animal has thus suffered will usually be a sufficient guide. The mode in which he expresses his torture will serve as another direction. He will often scratch violently enough when he has canker, but he will not roll over and over like a football except he is rabid." This is a very simple and very marked symptom. Another indication equally precise, but not perhaps so easily appreciated, except by an experienced eye, is the condition of the ear itself. If there is a very considerable inflammation of the lining membrane of the earespecially engorgement or ulceration-this is a sign of canker; but if there is only a slight redness of the membrane, or no redness at all, and yet the dog is incessantly and violently scratching himself, there is but too great a probability that rabies is at hand.

Another symptom is depraved appetite. The dog refuses his usual food, frequently with an expression of disgust; or he will seize it with eagerness and then drop it again, sometimes from disgust, sometimes because unable to complete the mastication. This last is an unequivocal sign. It implies a palsy of the organs of mastication, similar to that affection of the throat which prevents hydrophobic patients from being able to swallow. Some dogs vomit once or twice in the early period of the disease. "When this is done they never return to the natural food of the dog, but are eager for everything that is filthy and horrible. The natural appetite generally fails entirely, and to it succeeds a strangely depraved one. The dog usually occupies himself with gathering every little bit of thread, and it is curious to observe with what eagerness and method he sets to work, and how completely he effects his object."

Here also is a symptom worthy of remembrance. If the well-trained, well-behaved dog misconducts himself in the rooms where, hitherto, he has been perfectly clean, and if

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he is seen perseveringly examining and licking those places, he may at once be pronounced mad. "I never knew a single mistake about this," says Mr Youatt.

The foaming at the mouth, of which we hear so much, is a symptom only recognisable by the experienced eye, and is always less than is observed in epilepsy or nausea. There is undoubtedly in rabies an inflammation of the salivary glands, but the foam at the corners of the mouth is not abundant, and never lasts many hours. The stories that are told of mad dogs covered with froth are altogether fabulous. The dog recovering from or attacked by a fit may be seen in this state, but not the rabid dog." Fits, though often mistaken for rabies, have nothing whatever to do with it.

The increased secretion of saliva in rabies soon passes away. It lessens in quantity; the saliva becomes thick and glutinous. It clings to the corners of the mouth, and is probably annoying to the lining membrane of the throat. Hence the animal is seen uneasily pawing at the corners of its mouth.

"The

This pawing at the corners of the mouth is another symptom, and a dangerous one, because it is so often mistaken as a sign that there is a bone sticking in the throat. first care of those who are not sufficiently on their guard," says M. Sanson, "is to attempt to extract the imaginary bone, or to call in the aid of a surgeon. One of our unhappy confrères, M. Nicolin, unaware of this fact, perished a victim of his ignorance. He opened the mouth of a little dog to remove the bone, and was bitten." M. Sanson himself, enlightened as to the danger, was called in by the owner of a magnificent Danish dog, who was said to have a bone stuck in his throat. "The poor beast was sad, refused to eat, and tried every moment to rub his throat with his paws. On my guard against such an insidious symptom, I began by requesting the master to muzzle him which was done without any re

sistance. I then explored the throat without detecting the slightest indication of a bone. As it was possible that this dog might be mad, or merely suffering from inflammation of the throat, I ordered the dog to be kept chained up and sequestered. In a few days he was perfectly well." Now, here the observer finds himself in a difficulty. The pawing at the mouth may arise, 1°, from the inflammation with rabies; 2°, from inflammation without rabies; 3°, from a bone in the throat. How is he to ascertain the truth? By a very simple observation. If there is a bone in the throat, the mouth will be permanently open. If there is no bone, the mouth will be open, and closed when the efforts to get rid of the irritation cease. Our first care, therefore, should be to ascertain whether the mouth is permanently open, or sometimes open and sometimes closed. If the latter, we may be certain that the irritation does not proceed from a bone; and we need run no risk in attempting to extract it. And if to this indication be added the significant fact of the animal's tumbling over, losing his balance in his efforts, we may be certain there is rabies.

It is noticeable that the rabid dog is almost entirely destitute of the ordinary sensibility to pain. Other forms of sensibility remain, but that specific form of it which is known as pain seems completely deadened. Mr Youatt says he has known the rabid dog set to work and gnaw and tear the flesh completely away from his legs and feet; and M. Sanson relates a story of Prince Demidoff's favourite spaniel, which gnawed its tail off close to the base. These are, however, no proofs of insensibility. Better than these is the observation that the mad dog never cries, no matter how severely he may be beaten; and Ellis, in his Shepherd's Sure Guide, says that at Goddesden some of the grooms heated a poker red-hot, and held it near the mouth of a rabid hound, who eagerly seized it, and kept hold till his mouth was dreadfully burn

ed. M. Bouley repeated the experiment at Alfort. The dog rushed upon the red-hot iron, and seized it with his teeth; but let go at once, and retired into his kennel with an evident expression of pain, although no cry escaped him. This was repeated several times. Now, although there seemed to be some pain felt by this dog, it could scarcely have been appreciable, since he did not ery out, and returned to the charge several times after having been burned. M. Sanson relates another case, in which the dog seized the red-hot iron, and would not let it go.

Mr

We shall conclude this enumeration of symptoms with a reference to the change of voice which M. Sanson and Mr Youatt consider as a decisive indication. M. Sanson has given a musical notation of the rabid howl; but, as may be imagined, there is not much value in such indications to those who have never heard the peculiar sounds. Youatt attempts a description of the sounds, although he confesses that there are no other sounds resembling them. "The animal is generally standing, or occasionally sitting, when the singular sound is heard. The muzzle is always elevated. The commencement is that of a perfect bark, ending abruptly, and very singularly, in a howl, a fifth, sixth, or eighth higher." As dogs often howl, the inexperienced ear may easily be mistaken. But there is one memorable detail. The healthy dog gives a perfect bark, and a perfect howl rapidly succeeding it. But in the rabid dog every sound is more or less changed. The huntsman, who knows the voice of every dog in the pack, is at once on the alert when he hears a strange voice; and he puts the dog under confinement.

All who are in charge of a dog may by a little attention discover the early symptoms of rabies, and prevent any mischief by sequestrating the animal in time. Is he fidgety and sullen? Does he, when ill, manifest importunate affection?