The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-06 00:00:00

The Sunday Haymaking Case.

A public meeting, convened by the National
Sunday League, was held last evening in Cam-
bridge-hall, n-street, Orford-street, Mr.
en
in the chair, "to protest against the inflic-
tion of punishment by fine, distraint, or the stocks,
sba
in eases of necessary Sunday labour, and to appeal
to parliament to amend the law relating thereto."
There was a very
large attendance. Mr. Morrell,
the 11013' secretary of the League, read letters from
Sir J. AValmesley, Sir J. G. Wilkinson, and others,
for their inability to attend, but entirely
the objects of the meeting. The
concurring
Chairman, apologising i n
in opening the business of the meeting,
his opinion that if the Leigh magistrates
ehxapdrsed
thought for one moment that their judgment
would have called
down upon them the obloquy it
had done,
they would have hesitated before putting
into force the provisions of an old and obsolete law
against the farmers of the neighbourhood for per-
formingving an act of necessary labour. (Cheers.)
Having reviewed the whole circumstances con-
nected with the haymaking
case, he concluded by
contending
that the decision of the magistrates was
unjust,uncalled for, and tyrannical. (Cheers.) Mr.
j. 3. Langley
moved the first resolution as follows :
_,, That this meeting strongly condemns the con-
ductase, of
as
is
the justices in the Leigh hay-harvesting
c
an arbitrary and vexatious infliction of
punishment for necessary- Sunday labour, and thanks
the gentlemen forming the defence committee for 1
h energetic action, by which and the support of the
public press, the Leigh farmers have been held to
have
justified in saving their crops from the
effects
been
their o
ruin." Mr. John Kenney seconded the
resolution,
which was carried with one dissentient.
Dr. perfit moved the second resolution :—" That
the
arian element of the country, in defiance
of
publicS h ot of
opinion, having resorted to the revival of
ab
Acts parliament deemed obsolete, warrants the
adoption of
of a new sphere of action on the part of
the National Sunday League in affording protec-
tion
in cases of necessary Sunday labour." He en-
forced
the resolution in a very eloquent speech,
received with applause by the meeting.
Mr. C. w
. calesments seconded the resolution, which was
supported by Mr. S. Ay toun, and carried unani-
mously. The following
resolutions were also
adopted
,“ That a petition to Parliament be sent
from this ....
meeting,i
calling the attention of the
ro
legislature to the necessity of devising means for
preventing
the decisions of county justices on Sun-
day
observance being made a public nuisance and
"That this meeting, desirous that the
Sunday,
as
faras
Possible, should, in addition to
scandal."purely religious duties, be made available for the
y recreation and moral elevation of the people,
d h
urge upon Parliament, by petitions, the hweoaullt
de-
sirability of opening the national institutions on
Sunday
afternoons, being convinced that much
labour now done at home on that day would thereby
be abandoned." The Proceedings concluded with a
vote of thanks to the Committee of the League for
bringing the Leigh
hay making case before the
public, and to the chairman for presiding on the
occasion.

CANINE MADNESS CuRAtLE.—The generally re-
ceived opinion that this disorder is constantly fatal
seems about to be seriously
questioned. The Abeille Afddi-
cale publishes a letter from M. E. Dscroix' a veterinary
surgeon, in which he arrives at the following conclusions!
may
2. That a subject in whom
eiist
doh
irordueect any
rt
is
ratio 1: la troaofef
tefexrreti nes
rezidyo
r. by
such fits, their frequency is
p
revocation. 3. That a dog
itdnhi eet
hwd
may, in a violent fit of anger, communicate the disease by
a bite, and yet continue to enjoy perfect health; and 4.
That there are examples which show that communicated
rabies is capable of cure, either spontaneously or by means
of a proper treatment. The first two points were the sub-
ject of an article we gave a few weeks ago ; the third is
rendered probable by an observation published some time
ago by M. Pateg,nat ; as to the fourth, the cases quoted by
our author are certainly conclusive. In the first, a dog inocu-
lated with the saliva of a man attacked with the disease, a
fortnight after displays all the symptoms of quiet madness,
which gradually diminishes in intensity, and at length
disappear entirely in the course of 13 days without any
remedy being applied. The second case was much the same.
In the third case, a man and his wife were bitten by an un-
known dog. A month later the man died of confirmed
rabies at the hospital. Two days after his death his wife
was taken ill and received into the hospital, where the phy-
sician pronounced her disorder to be rabies, nevertheless she
got better and eventually recovered. The doctor then said
he had been misled by the symptoms, and that the disorder
was not rabies. The question at once presents itself—Ns hat
was it then? Either rabies has definite symptoms which
may be easily recognised, or there must be a disorder as yet
unknown, which has the same symptoms and yet is not
rabies. Is it not more logical to confess at once that rabies
is not always incurable P The fourth case is one reported in
1777 by the surgeon Beudon. A sow and a little dog were
both bitten by a mad dog, which afterwards ran away, but
returned two days after in a pitiable state. Beudon had it
put into a cage, and for several days it displayed all the
symptoms of rabies. Beudon then caused vinegar to boil
in the cage, so as to expose the animal to the fumes. By
degrees the patient got better, and at length recovered. Six
days after the infliction of the bite the sow became raging
mad, a state which lasted seven hours. Beudon took ad-
vaLtage of a momentary respite to cause boiling vinegar
to be let down into the sty. When this vinegar got
cool the sow drank some and got better; vinegar was
then mixed with its food, and in the course of a few
days the animal was medically cured. The little dog had
no symptoms at all. It may now be asked whether these
cures were spontaneous er owing to the vinegar. At all
events, these cases show that there is a possibility of reco-
very ; and M. Decroix thinks that among all the nostrums
proposed as specifics for this terrible affection, there may
happen to be one of real value, but rejected on acoount of
this preconceived °plain of the illcurelAlit7 of the disease.