The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-09-30
: ERRORS ABOUT Aypaop4os,A.
Come Popular Mistakes Concerning th
Disease and Mad Dogs.


Some Popular Mistakes Concerning thu
af Disease and Mad Dogs.
A very grave error is expressed In the
name hydrophobia, which means horror at
water. This il not simply a misnomer, but
misleading In a very serious way. The
name hydrophobia having become fixed in
peoples minds and the idea that rabid dogs
dread water having become part and par
Gel of the general belief, the sight of dog
eagerly tapping water or willingly plung.
ing into it naturally leads 90 out of 100 to
exclaim; "He drinksi There is no dan
ger"
The fact is that burning thirst is one
of the characteristic symptoms of rabies in
its early stages. ca the other hand, the
name hydrophobia is very appropriate
when applied to man, as an indefinite dread
OF water or any liquid Is the characteristic
of the later stages CT the disease when af-
ficting human subject. In dogs, so far
from a dread of water being a reliable
symptom, it is one which shows itself but
in extremely rare cases.
Another popular error attributes the
madness of dogs to the heat of the dog
days. In July and August, says the scien-
list. all kinds of precautions are taken
which no one thinks Of in November or
December. Now, the simple fact is that
the dog days have no more to do with the
rabies than the moon has TO do with lu-
macy. Dogs arc liable to attacks every
month of the year, but 1t so happens that
July and August are precisely the months
In which the fewest cases occur. The rec
ords OF the veterinary schools Of Abort,
Toulouse, Paris, London and Lyons show
that it is not in the hottest months, but in
the wettest months, that the great major
ity Of cases are seen. In April, November
and December the recorded cases are dou-
BILE and treble those in June, July and Au-
gust. That the heat Of the weather is not
the cause Of rabies is strikingly proved by
the fact that in hot countries the disease is
rare, and in some even unknown. Thirst,
however intense, is incapable of producing
rabies. Dogs have been subjected to the
from water when chained to wall under
burning sun. They died from thirst, but
showed no symptoms of rabies
Another error is to suppose that mad
dogs foam at the mouth. 1t is only at one
stage of the disease that the rabid dog
shows any foam. A perfectly healthy dog
often shows an abundance Of foam at the
mouth after "A hard run.
As it is most important that the symp-
tons Of rabies in dogs should be remem-
bered, the following Of the most notable are
given for the guidance of both those who
are fond of dogs and those who fear them:
AT the commencement of the disease, the
animals temper becomes changed. 1t is
dull, gloomy and silent, seeks solitude and
withdraws into the most obscure corners
1t is tidgety and restless, goes here and there,
lies down and gets up, keeps constantly
prowling about and cannot rest long in one
place. 1t sniffs and scratches with its paws
and appears TO try to hide its head under
its chest. Often the affected dog starts as
If haunted by phantoms. 1t banks and snaps
at nothing. 1t always has a gloomy, .sullen
aspect. The mad dog has no dread of wa
ter, but on the contrary will greedily swal-
low it.
When the desire to bite, which Is one of
the essential characteristics of rabies at q
certain stage, begins to manifest itself, the
animal first attacks inert bodies 1t seems
to delight in gnawing wood, leather, its
chain, carpets, the wood of It's kennel,
straw, coal earth, etc. The sensibility of
the rabid dog is greatly blunted when it is
struck, burned or wounded. 1t emits no
cry of pain or sign rs when it suffers or is
afraid in health. One of the most impor-
tant indications of madness is that the sick
dog is always very much enraged at the
sight of an animal of its own species
Even when the disease is but little devel-
oped, it will show this strange antipathy.
The voice of the rabid dog is Of marked
contrast and can easily be detected. The
sound is very husky and jerking. These
may be taken as the most important symp-
toms of this dread disease and are the re
suits of long observation and study by a
noted English scientist Chicago Herald.