The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-02-27
THE DOGS TONGUE.
An Alleged Indian Superstition Which Ia
Both Old and Absurd

Both Old and Absurd.
A correspondent from Washington
makes statement (said to have been
obtained from an Indian chief } which.
gaining wide publicity, may be the in
direct cause of much needless cruelty
to that most faithful of our domestic
spets, the dog, by melting overcareful
persons or idle experimentalists to I'M
dertake the removal of the supposed
worm from beneath the tongue of
our semper fidelis canine friends. This
Indian ventured the information to the
correspondent that under the tongne
of every dog there is worm situated,
which ordinarily does no harm, but if
the animal be placed under favorable
conditions will be the cause of pro-
ducing rabies or hydrophobia. If the
worm be cut out the disease will
never be produced spontaneously in the
dog, neither will he contract the dis
ease from the bite of rabid animal,
this man claims.
That this senseless idea does not
originate with the chief, or his tribe of
aboriginals, is evident from the fact of
the very general knowledge of the
practice in different parts of the globe.
George Fleming, a noted English
veterinarian, in his work on hpdropho-
| bia, says that the poet Gratius Faliscus
of the first century of our era, speaks
| of the fable of the worm in the dogs
! tongue being the cause of the disorder,
and that Pliny, in the same century,
writes: eff the 'lytta. or smallworm,
be removed from dogs tongue, he
will never become mad or lose his APP
petite, and eff the worm be carried
thrice around a fire and given to per-
son who has been bitten by mad dog
it will prevent his going mad
In opposition to this worse than use
less practice | can make no stronger
argument than quote from Fleming g
'Rabies and Hydrophobia,p London,
1872: "This removal of the worm from
the dogs tongue, or 'worming, as it is
popularity termed, has been practiced
from the day of Pliny to our own time,
and is, as might be expected, per-
fectly useless, nay, injurious and pain
full operation. Beneath the organ, in
the middle, is somewhat loose, ten.
dinous looking fold of membrane,
which constitutes what, in technical
language, is called the 'frenum, or
bride of the tongue. and is designed tC
assist the animal in tapping. When in
its ordinary relaxed condition this
fr@num looks like a small worm, and
the resemblance is perhaps even more
complete when it has been torn out
hence the name of the operation, which
is cruel one and gives the poor dog &
very sore mouth for several days, in
addition to redering the tongue less
capable of performing its important
functions. The supposition that this
procedure will prevent dog from be
coming spontaneously rabid, or liable
to infection if bitten, is excessively
absurd, as the presence of the imagin
airy worm has no influence whatever il
the production of the malady, while its
absence must be a source of incon
yenience to the dog, and far more
likely to induce rabies than to proven
its occurrence. The operators justly
| ucSclNe GHo ptiilsuIllciIG WHICH, Will W
awarded them should they come within
the cognizance of the Royal Society TO
the prevention of Cruelty to Animals
DR.. Samuel johnson, who was never a
loss for definition, when abiding t,
the opinion prevalent in his time will
regard to this worm, called it "a sub
stance, nobody knows what, extracted
nobody knows why. Cor. 81. Louj
| Globe Democrat