The Press., 1897-08-12
FEAR IS NOT HYDRoPHoBIA.

Every now and then one hears of the death of person who has been bitten by dog that was was supposed to b" mad. Unless the case happens right in onn's own neighbcrhood 1t Is hard to got at the exact facts, and even then ono Is liable to be deceived. Dr. Charles W. Dulles, of Philadelphia, physician who has made q special study of the subject for fifteen years and has investigated more than a thousand stories of alleged hyIrophohia during that period, has written to "Tht New York Medical Record" to say that he believes that there is a good dual ot unnecessary, anxiety about dog bites. IL is worse than unnecnssary, for in hit judg. ment u mistaken notion a5 to tho snf lous- ness of a bite often aggravatos the patients condition.
 In illustration of the lLtter theory the doctor mentions two cases occurring neal Wllkesqarre, Penn, within year. A boy, having been bltten by dog that gave no sign whatever of being mad, was
  Pasteur method. He died, soon after his return, of sort of combination of paralysis and hydrophobia. Another boy near neighbor, who had heard the sub- ject discussed and had grown very ner- vous about dog and the possibility of being bitten, finally had that experience about year after the first occurrence. He, too died within a few weeks. dog and several other children which wore bittcn by the same animal that attacked this little fellow arc alive and we'll to-day. Dr. Dulles concludes from these facts that the two boys really died of fright produced by sensational talk and treat. ment. If no fuss had been made he thinks the boys would have got we'll. He entertains the same theory in regard to numerous other cases. A distressing story has been circulated within the last few months about the death of four out of eight Baltimore children who were..bit ten by the same dog. Here, again, the doctor attributes the tragic result to the treatment and resulting scare, and not tC the bite. If there was any hydrophobia at all, 1t was originated not by the dog but by human agencies.
 Dr. Dulles also reports a largo number of cases of death after boing bitten by dog which were due to pneumonia, simple blood poison, dropsy of the lungs or some other well-known malady, the truth being ascertained by post-mostem examina tion.
 How easy 1t is to be mistaken abobt ar animal is shown by the following incident One of Dr. Dullrs's own patients was bit ten by dog, and the latter was carrio, off to pound, where he died. Most pcopl would have jumped to the conclusion in stantly that thH dog was mad and tha the person who was bitten would di within a few days in most horribl manner The pound-keeper declared, how ever that the dog merely had fits, an, not hydrophobia, and, though the pat ient's parents were almost frightened t. death themselves, the doctor allayed thei fears and then proceeded to much casio task of curing the child. In other hand tn case might we'll have terminated fatally.
 It is curious fact that those who ar most exposed to danger from what is call ed "hydrophobia" suffer the least. Dr Dulles has male careful inquiry regard ing the dog catcher and pound-keepers o large cities in Europe and America, anC has boen able to find only one case O hydrophobia among them. The attend ants of the London Home for lost and straying dogs, whore over two hundred thousand dogs have been handled, have not once experienced this malady. This certainly tends to show how much tho imagination has to do with the matter These people had bites enough, hundreds and evon thousands of them, but they "did not gcare worth cent'' and suffered no serious sonsrHuenees.
 It will thus be seen that doctors anC parents who permit a child to be alarmed after chance dog bite are likely to pro duce death to their behavior; whereas there is not one chance in many thousands that harm will result if those who are as sociated with the victim behave as if thu incident was a trifing one.-NeaO Fork | Tribune.