Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1874-07-09
HYDROPHORIA.
Does the Fem of it Constitute the Dis.
eaSey


The following leading article in the
London Times of June Q, on the subject
of the fear hydrophobia, will be found
worthy of perusal ,,,,
An alarm about canine madness is one
that is almost certain to recur periodic
ally with the recurrence of hot weather.
although it has been known to all who
are practically acquainted with the sub
ject that neither season nor temperature
exerts any appreciable influence upon
the prevalence of the disease. In En-
gland, where dogs are SO often killed in
mere panic, no trustworthy statistics
with reference to this part of the ques-
ton can be obtained in France, where
careful observations have been made, it
has been shown that the difference be-
tween the different periods of the year
is only trivial, but that, In fact, more
authenticated cases of rabies occur in
spring. The summer and winter quar-
tiers afford each about the same number.
and the autumn quarter is the least Sc
verely visited.
We know but little of the natural his
tory of hydrophobia, the constantly
fatal human malady which is caused.
sometimes at least, by the bites of rabid
animals /; but there is reason to believe
that it may be due, in many cases, as
much to fear as to any infection com
municated by the bite A dog which
has lost its master and its way; which
has, perhaps, committed some petty
theft which has been pelted and chased
and driven frantic with terror, NAV
probably bite half dozen people be-
fore its career is brought to a close. IF
the dog is then killed, all those whom it
has bitten are condemned to weeks OF.
months of mental torture or anxiety
while, if it were shut up and kindly
treated, few hours would often prove
that there was no madness in the case
and no harm of any kind to be antici
pated. The symptoms of genuine rabies
differ widely from the popular concep-
ton of the peculiarities of ga mad
dog" and are very similar to those
which In the human being attend upon
forms of insanity accompanied by what
are technically called Authorizations :"
that is to say, by voices of visions
which have no reality except to the SEN
sations of the sufferer.
The stories about hydrophobia &C.
after bite are probably in most cases
fables; and, if not fables, they at least
show that the disease may arise spon-
taneously; but yet there is no certainty
with regard to the period of time at
which it can be said that all danger has
ceased. According to the best authori-
ties, when two months have elapsed, the
person bitten by rabid animal may
entertain a well-grounded hope of
escape, and after ninety days the &C.
currence of hydrophobia is almost ex-
ceptional. 1t appears from the returns
furnished by the police that sixty-seven
dogs have been reputed to be mad and
have been destroyed within the metro
politan district between the LIST of JAN
uary and the 31st of May of the present
year. One of these dogs worried forty
sheep and killed some ducks, and one
of the sheep is said to have died of
rabies five weeks aftcrward In the
other sixty-six cases there was no evi-
dence of madness beyond the fact of the
accusation. Not single case OF hydro
phObla has been received into any of
the metropolitan hospitals, and of
twenty-five policemen who have been
bitten by dogs only five were sufficiently
hurt to be placed upon the sick-hst, and
only one of these is still absent from
| duty. Ii would seem from these fig res
that the fear of hydrophobia recently
excited has not been due to the exist
ence of any corresponding degree of
danger. If the sixty-six dogs which
were said to be mad have bitten any
persons, it is certain that none of these
have as yet suffered, and that a large
proportion of them must now be COM
paratively safe. But. the probabilities
are that not one of the dogs was either
mad or in the slightest danger of be-
coming SO, and that, if they had been
shut up and watched for a time, the
symptoms which gave rise to the belief