The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-17 00:00:00

SHOCKING CASE OF HYDROPHOBIA.

On Monday an inquest, which excited great interest, was
held at the Grave Maurice public-house, Bromley, Mid-
dlesex, before Mr. W. Baker, Coroner, on the body, of
Ellen Donovan, a child aged three years, whose death was
occasioned by hydrophobia, caused by the bite of a mad
dog. The case afforded a most lamentable instance of ig-
norance and superstition, the parents of the child believing
in the vulgar error, that the deceased could be saved by
giving it a portion of the dog's liver and heart, which it was
actually compelled to swallow.
James Atkins, a gardener, of No. 20, Calton-street,
Poplar, stated, that about five weeks ago, a dog belonging
to him broke loose from his chain, and bit the deceased.
The animal had been previously carefully fastened up with
the chain ; but the children, and particularly the Irish,
were in the habit of teazing it. He missed the dog for
some time, and a boy told him it had been seen loose. He
met the father of the deceased, who complained that the
dog had severely bitten his child, and requested him
to destroy the animal, and he did so as soon as he re-
turned home. The dog had given no previous indica-
tions of being in a rabid state. He directed the mother of
the child to take her to a surgeon's, and he subsequently
paid the expenses of medical attendance. The mother ne-
glected to convey the deceased to the doctor until four
days had elapsed. The child was bitten on the cheek. It
was not a very bad bite, but it seemed as if the teeth of the
animal had grazed the cheek, which had some blood on it.
At the request of the father of the deceased he extracted
the liver, heart, and part of the lights of the animal, and
delivered them to him.

A Juror asked the witness what he did that for ? . At-
kins said the father told him he meant to boil them, and
give them to the child, as a remedy for the bite of the dog.
The Coroner and Jury expressed their surprise and dis-
gust that such ignorance should prevail, and that any person
should place credence in such nonsense.
Margaret Donovan, the mother of the child, said she lived
in Brandy Fields, Bromley. About the 29th of May last,
the deceased was brought home in the evening, directly af-
ter she was bitten, and the blood flowed profusely from her
cheek. The owner of the dog came in immediately after-
wards, and told her to take the child to a surgeon's, and he
would pay the bill, but it was three or four days before she
did so, as she did not think the case was so serious as it af-
terwards turned out. She rubbed some sweet oil on her
child's face.

The Coroner asked the witness if she had been foolish
enough to give the child any portion of the animal.
Witness—Several people told me if I could get a part
of the liver and heart of the dog, boil it, and give it to
her, it would be sure to cure her.
Coroner—And did you do so ? Witness—ln conse-
quence of that, my husband appliel for and brought home
a part of the liver and lights of the dog. I roasted it, and
gave her a piece to eat.
The Jury said that alone was enough to kill the child, if
the dog had not been in a rabid state.

The Coroner said, that notwithstanding the spread of
intelligence among the poorer classes of the people, many
still put faith in the vulgar error that the nostrum in ques-
tion was a cure for the bite of a mad dog. It was certainly
lamentable that such gross ignorance should prevail in the
19th century, but there could be no doubt that the poor but
misguided woman had given the child part of the entrails
of the animal, believing that it would prove a cure, and not
with any bad intent. The result would show how miserably
she had been deceived, the child having fallen a victim to
one of the most dreadful evils which could afflict the human
race. He asked the mother how much she had given to
the child.

The witness said she roasted the liver and lights toge-
ther, and gave the child a bit about the size of the top of
her finger. She ate it on the same night the dog was
killed. When she called in the doctor the child's face had
swollen, and was festering. She took her to Mr. Beale, a
surgeon, whose assistant attended her. The deceased got
better, and the wound healed, but she was never thoroughly
well. She was feverish and sickly, and then got better and
then worse again, she became violent, and would scream
loudly. She frequently ran about and screamed, and if
she attempted to chastise her, would scream more.
It was such screaming as she bad never heard be-
fore. She afterwards got out and ran about. All this
time, neither Mr. Beale nor Mr. Percival, the sur-
geons, attended her. About the 2d or 3d of this month
the child was taken violently ill and very feverish, and she
took her to Mr. Baker, of Bromley, the parish surgeon,
before whom she screamed violently. She was affected in
the throat with difficulty of breathing, and on water being
offered to her, she seemed quite to avoid it, started back, and
appeared in convulsions. The sight of the water frightened
her more than anything else. Mr. Beale and Mr. Per-
cival saw her in that state, and she continued so till she
died. She expired in great agony on Friday last. Wit-
ness had no doubt that the child had died from the bite of
a mad dog.
A Juror—Did the poor child refuse water ? The mo-
ther replied that she always refused drink whilst in a violent
state.

The Coroner and jury said the deceased must have suf-
fered dreadfully, and one gentleman observed that he would
have sooner had all the dogs in England destroyed than he
would have heard such a painful recital.
Isaac Luck, a labourer, of No. 4, Bow-lane, stated that
he saw the dog fly at the child and bite her. The animal
seized hold of the deceased's cheek and shook her, biting
her at the same time, and the blood flowed from the wound.
The dog then ran towards home, and he went and took
him to his master by placing a handkerchief round his
neck. The animal knew him and offered no violence
whatever to him. The animal was a middling-sized dog
of the bull breed. He had had something the matter with
the dog before.
The jury said that the animal ought to have been se-
curely fastened, and the manner in which dogs in a rabid
state were suffered to go about the streets, called loudly for
the interference of the proper authorities.
The Coroner said that dogs ought to be tied up, and
not suffered to run about the public streets. There was
a good deal of alarm felt about hydrophobia at the present
time.
The witness said he fastened the dog up securely in the
morning.
Mr. James Duff, of the Manor-house, Poplar, said the
case was a strongly marked one of hydrophobia in its worst
form. He saw the deceased with her face lacerated imme-
diately after she was bitten, and he observed the marks of
the dog's teeth. The animal: was destroyed immediately
afterwards. He first saw the child in a rabid state about
nine o'clock on Friday. He took some water and threw it
in the child's face. The effects were that she quivered and
shook violently. She also screamed and barked like a dog.
At intervals the little sufferer howled like the howling of
a dog.

Along conversation ensued among the jury in cons&
quence of its being alleged that great neglect had been ex-
hibited on the part of the medical men, who had not paid
that attention to the case which its importance required.
Mr. Duff, on being questioned, said he did not think that
any blame could be attached to the medical gentlemen,
who, on hearing that the child was afflicted with symptoms
of hydrophobia, paid every attention to her. He heard the
owner of the dog say he would pay the doctor's bill, but the
parents believing thoikilte ease was not so serious as it after-

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