The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-07-24
ANIMALS AS SURGEONS.
Birds Set Broken Legs, and Bees and
Cattle Understand Medicine.
Baltimore NewS)

Baltimore News.C
A party of Johns Hopkins students
were talking about immunity last
night. One of them remarked that a
dogs saliva has a. perfect bactericidaI
and healing power, and suggested that
perhaps it would make a good antisep-
tic, although it seemed that no bac-
teriologist had caught the hint con-
tanned in the simple process of a dogs
licking a sore, a process seen every day.
This idea was discussed generally.
The young man who first mentioned it
took down pile Of old magazines, and
after a diligent search produced a clip
ping from a medical journal containing
a paper by DR.. George NJ. Gould. Here
is a part of it:
when we commence observation of
the origin of medical discovery and
treatment we are struck by the fact
that our brothers the animals were
first in learning not little of medical
art 1t has been noticed that birds
often show a true surgical instinct. NJ.
Tatio on several occasions has killed
woOdcOck that were, when shot, conval-
eScing from wounds previously re-
ceived, and in every instance found the
old injury neatly dressed with down
plucked from the stems Of feathers and
skilfully arranged over the wound, evil
IDENTIFY by the bea.k OF the birds.
I'm some instances a. solid plaster was
thus formed, and in others ligatures had
been applied to wounded or broken
limbs. Ten times in his experience he
has found birds whose limbs had been
broken by shot, with the fractured ends
neatly approximated and ltigated to-
gether-a statement that is vouched for
by no less a naturalist than Fulbert
DumonteiI.
''Dr. James Wier says that when bees
are attacked with diarrhoea they at
once begin to suck astringent pieces of
the dOgwood, poplar, wild cherry or
hickory and rapidly cure themselves.
Their instinct carries them so far that
in winter if they should happen to be
afflicted they will readily drink a de-
coction of wild cherry if il is placed in
the hive. Moreover. they seem to know
that filth is source of disease.
DIR. Weir further believes that many
of the higher animals have discovered
and use materia medica that should
be recognized by human physicians.
For instance, dogs will seek out and de-
YOUR the long blades of couch grass
(triticum repenS) when they are consti-
pated horses and mules will eat clay
when they have scours: cattle with
eczema have been seen to plaster hoof
and joint with mud. He speaks of see
ing a cow break thin ice on a pond and
treat her itching joint to a. mud poul-
Uce. Cats will go miles when they are
under the weather for a dose of cat
nip.
The saliva of animals seems to have
a distinct curative action Dogs. cats.
cattle, rodents. monkeys. all lick their
wounds when they can get at them and
soon effect cures. Weir also tells of a
large dOg-faced monkey who scratched
his shoulder badly on a projecting nail
in his cage He Immediately went to
corner and. Selling a handful of clean
sawdust, pressed it on the bleeding
scratch. In a. few moments the bleed
ing ceased and the blood dried leaving
a. coating under which the healing was
prompt.
Rev. Egerton R. Young "A mission
airy in northwestern Canada shows us
that the surgical instincts of the dog
may become so far developed as to pro-
duce a real surgeon doctor. One of his
dogs spontaneously took up this work
and became so expert that the Indians
called him MuslIeke Atm. the surgeon.
Calls. wounds frozen feet etc. in the
other dogs were successfully and SIS
tematfcally treated by Dr. Rover. The
wounds or sores that could not be
reached by the dogs own tongue did
not heal. The fact shows that in a
state of health and with pure food the
dogs saliva has perfect bactericidaI
and healing power Perhaps fl would
make an ideal antiseptic. No bacteri-
olOgist has caught the hint"