New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-25
FEAR IS Not HYDROPHOBIA.
TIE DANGER FROM DOG BITES HAS BEEN
GREATLY EXAGGERATED.

GREATLY EXAGGERATED.
Every now and then one hears of the death OF n
nerson who has been bitten by dog that was sup
nosod TO be mad. Unless the case happens right In
ones own neIghborhood It is hard to get at the
exact facts and even then one Is liable TO be de-
ceived Dr. Charles W. Dulles. Of Philadelphia. a
physician who has made a special study OF the
subject for fifteen years and has Investigated more
than thousand stories Of alleged hydrophobia
during that period. has written TO THE New-iork
Medical Record" to say that he believes that there
IL n good deal Of unnecessary anxiety about dog
bites II Is worse than unnecessary, for in his
Judgment n mistaken notion TO the seriousness
of a bite often aggravates the patients condition
In illustration OF the latter theory the doctor
mentions two cases occurring near Wilkesbarre,
Penn. within a year. boy having been bitten by
a dog that gave no sign whatever OF being mad,
was sent to New-York to be treated by the Pas
teur method. lie died soon after his return, Of 4
sort OF combination of paralysis and hydrophobia
Another boy, a near neighbor. who had heard the
subject discussed and had grown very nervous
about dogs and the possibility Of being bitten.
finally had that experience about year after the
first occurrence He. too died within a few weeks.
A dog and several other children which Bit
ten by the same animal that attacked this little
fellow are alive ana well to-day DR.. Dulles con-
cludes from these facts that the two boys really
died of fright produced by sensational talk and
treatment If no fuss had been made he thinks the
boys would have got well lie entertains the
same theory in regard to numerous other cases. \
distressing story has been circulated within the last
few months about the death Of four ont Of eight
Baltimore children who had been bitten by the
same dog. Here. again. the doctor attributes the
tragic result 10 the treatment and resulting scare,
and not to the bite. II there was any hydrophobia
at all. II WAS originated not by the deg, but by
human agencies
DR.. Dulles also reports a large number OF cases
OF death after being bitten by dog which were
due TO pneumonia. simple blood poison dropsy OF
tho lungs or some other well-known malady, the
truth being ascertained by post-m eXamina-
ton.
Dullcs's own patients was bitten by dog. and the
latter was carried of TO pound, where II died.
Most people would have jumped TO the conclusion
Instantly that the dog mad and that the per-
son who was bitten would die within a Few days
clared however that the dog merely had fits. and
not hydrophoba, aud. though the PATENT parents
were frightened almost to death themselves. the
the much easier task OF curing the child. In other
hands the might well have terminated fatally.
1t IL "A curious fact that those who are most ex.
posed 10 danger from what is called 'hydrophoba'
suffer the least DR.. Dulles has med" careful in
quiry regarding the dog-catcnerr and pound-keep-
ers Of large cities In Europe and America. and has
among ibemi The attendants OF the London Home
for Lost and Straying Dogs. where over two hun
dred thousand dogs have been handled. have not
once experienced this malady. This certainly tends
tho matter These people had bites enough. hun
dreds and thousands OF them. but they did
not scare worth "A cent and suffered no serious
consequences.
II will thus be seen that doctors and parents who
bite are likely TO produce death by their behavior;
whereas there IL not one chance In many thousand
that harm will result II those who are assocla led
with the victim behavs 49, II the Incident was a
tri1ing one