Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-02-05
DRoPHOBlA.

HYDRoPHoBlA.
Some Popular Beliefs which Are Not
s* Only Erroneous, But Dangerous.
One would think, said veterinary
surgeon, the other day, who is great
admircr Of fine dogs, '.that this recent
semi-ep;dcn1ic of hydrophobia over in
New Jersey, occurring as it does in the
winter, wouldehave tendency to disa-
sbuse people of some, of the dog-day
nonsense which causes so much need
less torture to dogs in midsummer.
But | suppose it will have no more
effect this year than it has in years
past. There is, probably, no disease
about which SO many people are so OBJ
stinately superstitious and ignorant
as they are about hydrophobia. The
very name of the malady is misleading
and erroneous Mad dogs do not fear
or hate water, as the term hydrophobia
implies; on the contrary, an early
symptom Of the disease is {. craving for
water, an intense thirst; and the animal
will plunge his nose deep down into the
liquid when drink is given to him. 1t
is only in the last stages of the disease
that the terrible spasms of the pharynx
occur when the attempt is made to
swallow liquids. This mistake is an
especially dangerous one, for the reason
that people who are laboring under it
believe that if a dog showing suspicious
symptoms can drink he is all right,
whereas he may be right on the verge
of that form of the madness in which
he snaps at everything within reach
and intlicts his most deadly poison.
'*But to come back to what I started
to say first, the most widespread error
about hydrophobia is that it is preva-
lent in the hot months. A surprising
number of people hold it as an article of
faith that the dog days are so called be-
cause that season is particularly dam
gerous to dogs. At all events the belief
is almost universal that July and Au-
gust are the months in which to look
out for mad dogs. As a matter of fact,
statistics show that there is less HYDRO
phobia in those two months than in any
in the year, and that cases of hydropho-
bla in Winter-early in the winter and
late in the winter, that is, in November
and December and in February and
March-are rather more than twice as
frequent rs they are in July. You have
only to read the papers every year to
verify this. The numerous reports of
cases with which the papers are at this
moment filled verify it. A distinguished
veterinary surgeon in England kept
record of hydrophobia cases for series
of years, and the result was that he dis
covered that, in England at least, Feb
ruary was the most dangerous month.
A record kept in France during series
of ten years showed all average of 20
cases in January, 81 in March, and 25
in April, while in July there were only
IL. From this series of observations
the Inference was drawn that the dis
ease was much more prevalent in the
Iainy than in the dry months. This hot
weathererror, like the error about aver
sion to water being a symptom of the
disease, is also a source of danger.
People lock up, muzzle, and drown dogs
during the months when it is safest to
let them run at large, and let them run
at large just when they are most liable
to the disease and most dangerous.
"But hydrophobia is after all so rare
4 disease that there is no necessity of
half the fuss that is made over it, Dur
ing the six years from 1866 to 1871 there
were in New York City only twenty-five
cases; or an average of 81 per annum
among the million and a quarter of peo-
pie here. This is greater number of
cases than was shown by long record
kept in Paris, where during series of
forty years only ninety-four cases oc-
Cured, or an average of p per year.
''Unless it is true, and / am some
what skeptical, that Pasteur has con-
quercd the disease, there has never
been knowni'a case of fully inoculated
hydrophobia that has been cured. An
attack of hydrophobia, unless Pastcur
is right, means nothing less than
horrible death, and although the dis
ease is so rare, it is very desirable that
the dangerous superstition and ignor-
ance concerning it, which are, unfor-
tunately, So general, should be re-
moved. People should above all
things rid themselves of the false no.
tons that prevail as to the preliminary
symptoms of the disease. The symp-
toms OF hydrophobia in dog are rest
lessness, constant shifting about, and
hunting for secluded places to lie down.
Then hs has Authorizations. He will
stop and prick up his ears atimaginary
noises and dart at imaginary objects.
He drinks feverishly until the throat
spasms come on, and even then he
plunges his muzzle into the water and
tries to drink. The most distinctive
symptom is the peculiar bark, which
one who has heard it once will always
remember. The voice is unnatural and
hoarser, and the bark is followed by a
series of shouts, half howl, at quick in
teryals. Then the dog is at his most
dangerous stage. He will 60 out of his
way to dart at things and bite. Any
thing animate seems to irritate him to
frenzy. Sometimes a good-natured pet
dog will not bite it's master until the