The daily gazette., 1879-12-10
From the Sunday World, rs
Mad Dogs and Their Bites

NOTES OF SOME RECENT CASES, CURES
AND STATISTICS OF HYDRoPHoBIA.
There was published in the World a
little while ago an interesting commune
cation from DR.. John w. Green on the
subject of "Hydrophobia and Woorara"
--clrdre, in which he said that expert
ments had led him to the belief that the
proper dose of the substance used hypo-
dermically was about the thirteenth Of
grain, dose that was TO be repeated
often till the proper effects were pro-
duced. The wOOrara, he said, quieted
spaslns and reduced all nervous irrita-
liability, thus giving the system time to
eliminate the hydrophobic virus, and as
to It's use, be added:
"DuriDg the past three years some of
the physicians connected with the Ger
man hospitals have reported few cases
where this remey has been tried. In all
but one case complete recovery ensued,
and in the case that ended fatally l i'm
aglne from the report OF it that the
woorara was not used faithfully and
III sunderstandingly. If it will, howev .r,
save so per cent. Of those attacked, it is
better than losing all Of the affected. In
taking account of the cases reported
which l have seen, making altogether
four, there has been one death. This is
percentage OF 10 In favor of woorara."
DIR. Etheridge, Of Chicago, has been
experimenting with curare-the secret of
manufacturing which, by the way, Jo-
vert bought last year from the Amaze.
mas Indians-upon a hydrophobIc pa
tient, with what success we are unable
as yet to say. According to the German
papers, DIR. Gutenberg, OF Dusseldof, has
cured woman bitten by mad dog by
ny podermic injection OF twenty cent?
grammes of the AGENT on the other
hand Russian experiment has failed
almost sgDally. Nine persons were bit
ten by a rapid wolf in the hamlet of
BogosjubOw, in the vladimir district,
aud were taken to the hospital, where
five of them died in dreadful agony soon
after their admission.
The doctors resolved to try curare in
the other cases. This was ADM nistered
| at vladimir TO the remai ming four per-
sons who had been bitten by the wolf,
and .hry all died, but without experien-
cling the preliminary torture Of hydro.
| phobia. This was, of course, something
gained, though not much; in the absence
| VI Guy hO1uito ~ 10 ihiDOSsiDl6 W bdY
| to what cause the startling result was
fairly to be ributed. Two other Rus
| sian Physicians, Schmidt and Ledeben
are SAID to have cuI ed the case of little
giri of twelve by causing her to inbale
oxygen Oar old friend the elecampane
cure-a third of an ounce stewed in a
thi'd of pint Of mi Tx and taken fasting
every other day for eighteen days-has
been going the round of the press, in
,tth h
tea cure, aud the maidstone, which last
prove d consI iouous y useless in the case
OF the Hon. o. +. West. of Senatobia Ia,
| Miss. An treatment, that has beer,
recommended Is bathing with warm win
egir aud water and then pouring few
drops of muriatc acid on the wound,
another is the application for from six
TO ten nlnut. sof asIoige dipI ed in
"a nal parts of chloroform aud concentra
ted ammonia. The case of Crosse has
been revived, who having been bitten by
IA cat that died the same day from hydr, :
phobia, cured himself by mere mental
resolution after pains had reached his
shoulder and spasms had shot throug h
his throat at sight of water. The specific
preventive of the pious peasants Of the
Ardennes is-for the dog, piece of
bread blessed at mass on st. Hubcrt's
Day; for the man, wearing RUG or me-
d Il consecrated at ST. Hubert's shrine.
| IL WAS 10 this same shrine OF st. Hubert
in Arde mes that, az Cnapella tells us,
the Princess of Vandemont, having been
bitten by mad dog, did make a pilgri-
mage in green carriage, dressed all in
green. AT the spring, having put on a
green stole and listened to "a chapter of
the Gospel according o st. John, she
drank a glass of water aud returned
ONE to ! We fourteen ears, while two
| f.tn "a.
dog, died Of hydrophobla. Perhaps, how
ever the virus was still lurking undevel..
oped in her system for In June last Mr..
samuel j. CULVER died at New Haven,
| Conn, of a bite received twenty years
before case even more terrible in some
respects than that of Frank Shields, of
Bloomington, Ind, who on the LIST of
November was put in Jail to prevent him
from doing violence to himself and
woods, yelping like hound in thechase
and on meeting teams on the road would
| sc re the horses aud bite them like q
dog. He was said to have been bitten by
| a dog ten years ago.
NJ. Caller has recently made some
valuable experiments from which he
draws the conclusion that the saliva of a
mad dog, obtained from the living ami
NAL and kept iu water, continues viru-
| ltut uNt, iOurJetU, anu even tWtuty-IOuT
hours afterwards. Thus the water of a
vessel In which mad dog may have
dropped some of its saliva in atte mpting
to drink should be considered viruleDt at
least during twenty-four hours and az
the saliva of a mad dog which has sue
cumbed to the malady or has been killed
does not lose IS properties through mere
cooling of the body, it is important, in
examining the cavities of the mouth and
throat after death, to guard against the
possible danger of incubation. M. Gal
tier tested rabbits with regard to rabies,
| and found 1t transmissible to them from
the dog also, the rabbits rabies from
them to animals of the same species.
| The chief symptoms are paralysis and
commissions. The animal may live from
few hours to four days after the disease
has declared itself. M. Galtier found
sahcylic acid, injected daily under The
skin, powerless to prevent the develop
ment of the disorder in rabbits.
The returns of the Prefect of the Seine
for 1878 contain some interesting figures.
There were reported during the year sos
mad dogs and mad cats of these Oil
animals 800 went furiously mad and at
tempted to bite. There were bitteen 103
persons, of whom 67 were adults ; of
these, 30 died. The mad animals bit 454
dogs and "a cats all the latter and 342
of the former were killed.