Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1909-06-18
rabies FROM THE DOG
Bite is YET A MYSTERY
Is Assured, as With Other Diseases,
That 1t Is Caused by Some
Bacilli IN Microscopic Form
In The Blood.

DhNAAAA Al 4A4N4OONVP1( Z VI Ill
In The Blood.
1t is an exploded fiction that rabies
is more rampant in ''dog days" than
at any other season of the year. The
season comes in summer when Sirius,
the ''dogstar," brightest of all those
suns which we call ''fixed stars" and
chief orb Of the constellation Calls
Major, is in conjunction with our own
san, or, in other words, appears to be
at about the same point in the celestial
universe on account of the changed po-
sitiOn Of the earth in its orbit 1t is
matter of record that there have been
more cases of dog bite this winter
than during the last period of dog days
and it has been demonstrated that
many of the animals were affected with
rabies.
No canine is immune from this dis
ease. Other animals may be affected,
but they are not SO likely to bite the
human animal. One dog is as likely
as another to have rabies. The mad
dog is not necessarily the yellow cur,
| which could be excused for insanity ON
account of having no home and being
kicked and cuffed from birth to death.
AS fact, the pampered household pet
is no more immune than the alien yel-
low edition without pride Of ancestry.
''Tray, Blanche and Sweet-somes,
of her ladyship's boudoir, are as much
of a real menace as "mongrel ours of
low degree" Quite recently, six men,
bers of prominent family in Erie,
Pa, were bitten by "Bunkie," pet
terrier. The animal was found to be
affected with rabies and the bitten ones
were all sent to Pasteur institute for
treatment. The truth is that degs of
high lineage, family pets, are more
liable to attack than the gutterbred
variety, just as many members Of
royalty and nobility are insane or de-
generates by reason of exotic or hot
house breeding.
What is rabies, or hydrophobia? The
latter term is a missioner. 1t comes
from time of utter ignorance of the
disease or infection, when it was de-
clared that mad dog would not touch
water, sure sign of madness. 1t was
also held that if one who was bitten
by dog did not reject water there
could be no danger of hydrophobia.
Rabies, the result of bite by dog in
fected is yet mystery. It is assumed
with this, as with most other diseases,
that some creature of the multiple
genus of bacilli is the devil incarnate
in microscopic form.
'The first thing to be considered is
that when two dogs have been fighting
it is best to have both confined at once
in safe place, collared and chained"
says an eminent authority in giving
advice for first aid in 'mad dog" trou-
bles. 'If either becomes sick, dispose
of both and of all other animals which
have been bitten or in contact with
them. If person has been bitten by
dog, secure the animal and keep it
under close observation for at least two
weeks. If the dog is sound and well at
the end of that period, the person bit
ten has nothing whatever to fear from
rabies or hydrophobia, even though the
dog should become sick later on. The
commonly accepted idea that the life
of the person is affected by the future
life OF the animal is foolish mistake.
SIT is known fact that dog can
infect by bite or contact at least seven
days before he shows signs of having
the disease. That is why observation
for two weeks is advised as a measure
of greater safety. 1t is also advisable
not to kill the animal which has bit
ten, but to keep it in quarantine for
that length of time.
"After two weeks, if the dog under
suspicion is healthy, the person bitten
is absolutely safe from that bite, as the
wound can be Of no greater danger than
that received from another source. But
if the dog should sicken and die during
that time its head, at least, should be
sent away for examination at some
Pasteur Institute, and any person bit
ten or in contact should apply at once
| for treatment"
1t is admitted, of course, that the
most effective preventive of rabies
would be the killing of all the dogs, but
that is out of the question. Dogs are
as inevitable as the 'harmless, neces-
sary cat" of Shakespeare. Each dog
may have his day, but the canine genus
will be with US until the planets decay
and all the suns grow cold. The other
great preventive is to muZzle all dogs
when allowed on the streets, letting the
family which coddles rabid dog be
the only sufferer.
Short Health Talks No. 4.
CARE OF THE BABY IN SUMMER.