The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1877-03-01
What Science Actually Knows About
HydrOphObia.


The origin and progress of hydro
phobia in the United States and its his
torcal distribution in Europe curiously
confirm the induction that, in the great
majority of instances, the little red
eyed wolf of POmerania is responsible
for the fatality that has recently
seemed to attend any abrasion OF the
skin by the teeth of dog, whether
rabid or sane. Although Homer, Virgil,
Pliny, Ovid and other ancient writer's
are abundant in illusions to hydro
phobia, the earliest European report OF
zeal interest describes an outbreak
among the wolves of FrancOnia, "a
German province, which occurred in
1871. Since then it has been frequently
reported as prevalent in an epizootic
form in the wooded districts of Ger
many, France and Switzerland, where
it is principally limited to dogs, wolves
and foxes. 1t appeared in the West
Indies in 1776, and in the United States
in 1885. The cause of its spontaneous
development has never been explained.
1t has, according to German observers,
three stages, which may be designated
respectively as the stage of nervous de.
preston, the stage of fury, and the
final stage of paralysis, during which
the animal dies. A frothy spume COM
mences to drip from the lips as the
second stage supervenes, and delirious
ferocity replaces the silent brooding in
which the rabies has its inception. A
tingling sensation of the cicatrix OF the
wound, which usually heals kindly, is
one of the first symptoms III cases
where the rabies is prOpagated by in
oculation. Ague and muscular tremor.
with spasmodic structure of the throat
and frothing at the mouth, Immediately
follow. In some cases delirium merci-
fully supervenes. In Others the patient
is strangely loquaciOus. In others he
manifests a startling and abnormal
brilliancy of the intellect, pnnctuated
by intervals of dependency. AutOpsies
have added very little to the stock of iu-
formation current among medical men.
That of DR.. Hammond, in 1873, and the
recent one instituted in the case OF
Andrew Hermann, describe the general
result of all such inquiries. Two very
important autOpsies were published in
the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical
Remew during the great outbreak in
Edinburgh. Both were very exhaustive,
but neither was successful in tracing
the origin and development of The dis
order. After dissecting 375 rabid dogs
Bruckmuller came to the conclusion
that such evidence was of no value in
determining these questions. The con-
slant facts presented on post m0rtem
haan nnnAGfinn nt
the lungs, nervous centers and mucous
membranes, and dark and grumous
appearance of the blood, both arterial
and venous. The nervous disturbance
appears to commence in local irritation
at the cicatrix partly, and to be partly
consequent upon the poisoned condition
of the blood. Hallier asserts that he
has found microscopic germs in the
blood of hydrophobic patients, but the
assertion has never been verified. al
though, when the development of the
disorder is finally traced out, it is very
probable that the germ theory will find
one of its most convincing illustrations
i'm this hitherto obscure subject.
The romantic "tollwurm'' (madness
worm) theory of hydrophobia, which
has been handed down for ages as
German myth, and was revived as a
scientific view in Russia not many years
since, has been demolished by the dis
covery that this worm of madness or
malignant pustule consists merely OF
group of enlarged follicles.
The only point of practical interest in
the literature of hydrophobia appears
therefore. to consist in the fact that il
seems to have radiated over modern
Europe from the wooded districts Of
Germany, where it ha, existed for cen
turies in epizootic form. Previous tt
1856, before importation of the Spit;
dog as a pet, according to a report pre-
faced by the American Medical Associa
tion, 102 cases of rabies had been re
ported and described by practicing ply
sicians in the United States since 1885
of which 81 occurred during the sprinl
months, 81 during the summer, n il
autumn and 23 in winter.