Lower coast gazette., 1910-08-13
tiydi'ophObia.

RABIES. hydrolhcbia, or water Madness
among dogs and other animals is one OF the Did
est diseases known and is generally attributed
f. no; weather and BY those aStlUIo%lc2ily IN
ciiupd to the control Of Sirius, or the ~so-c"ll1d
Dog Star, which is ascendant in August. All
n!oiern Investigations made by the BEST Vetr-
~inar;anS IN The world have led to the conclusion
that the season Of the year makes very little
difference in any outbreak Of this disease and It
is said to be IS prevalent IN the winter Tune as
in the summer. For some unknown cause dogs
are usually the chief sufferers by this disease
and as when affected by it they are thought to
have their eyesight dimmed by the distress OF
the disease and are led to seek relief ny gong
away from their ordidary haunts. THIS leads
them to become Migrants or travellers when at
tackled and to indicate by their appearance their
exhausted condition, sometimes with their
tongues hanging out Of their mouths and even
trothing at the mouth as in a great state OF eX-
haustion. Such dogs when discovered are
usually pursued and killed, whether actually at
tackled with rabies or not.
The disease has had considerable invcstlga-
ton and is thought to be a germ disease and
one that is transmitted by the bite Of one animal
to another, the saliva infected with the germs
of the disease being the direct cause Of the in
lection. 1t is also thought that the disease may
be contracted from tears from the eyes of an
infected animal, or from the milk. 1t is stated
that a rabid dog is a source of danger tor some
DAYS before the symptoms Of the disease appear
and that hot weather. lack Of Ill treatment Will
never in themselves produce this disease. The
name hyprophobia attaches from the fact that
with the disease there is an apparent paralysis
of the muscles Of the throat and dogs affected
Herewith when travelling and tired naturally
want water very badly and yet find on making
the effort that they cannot swallow any.
In this country the dog is the chief agent in
the spread Of this disease. We would remark
incidentally that the dogs Of Constantinople,
which have been the s%cavengers Of that great
city for a thousand years and have occupied its
streets to the extent Of thousands in number,
are said never to develop hydrophobla. These
dogs have recently been d%eported by the Young
Turks to an island in the Sea Of Marmora, where
they are at present cared for indiiferently well
at the public expense, the sentimental Turks
apparently hesitating about killing them to a
degree that might sometimes be satisfactorily
emulated by the dog catchers of New Orleans,
who are quite merciIess in such matters.
In our parish we have had some reports OF
mad animals other than dogs, but presumably
infected by dogs. The pasteur treatment by a
special serum has seemed Of late years to be
quite successful in taking care of cases Of this
disease with good results, provided always that
the cases are taken in hand in time. Micro
SCOPE examinations have shown small round
bodies. called Nigri, after the name of the dis
coverer, who found them in 1903. These have
never been found in the brain of an animal that
has not been innOcculated in some way with the
virus of hydrOphobia and when these bodies are
found in the brain there is no doubt of the ami
NAL having the disease. The State of Kansas
has recently been making some careful lnvestl-
cations Of hydrophobia in the veterinary depart
ment of its Agricultural College and brings out
strongly the idea that one Of the first things to
be determined in the suspected case of hydro
phobia is as to whether or not the animal actu-
ally has the disease. The college offers to ex-
anime the brain of any animal sent to it. sug-
costing that he head should be SEPT as soon