Year: 1871




the awful nature of the disease and the
capricious and uncertain manner in which
it assaiis its victims, it is invested with
horror and mystery beyond any and every
other i'll which man can suffer. l do not
mean to touch upon the medical and scien.
tific theories or treatment of canine mad
ness. Such themes are above me. Nor
would the reader, probably, be greatly en-
lightened were l to do so, seeing that until
very recently large section of the scien.
tific world entirely disputed the existence
of hydrophobia at all, or, at any rate, the
possibility of its being communicated to
human beings. Nor shall 1 dwell upon
symptoms which declare the dog to be af
fected, or attempt-unless mention them
accidentally-in any way to describe them
All propose to do is to tell two or three
anecdotes of men who have been called
to confront mad animals of the dog kind.
First let me tell the reader that the most
minutely detailed and interesting narrative
of the whole kind is the death of the Duke
of Richmond, in Canada, from the bite of
rabid fox. He may read the story in
most anecdote-books, and shocking enough
he will find it; but, terrible as it may be,
it is also noble record of heroic endur-
ance of dreadful calamity.


A great deal of good was done, despite
the unpopularity of the measures, by the
dog tax of few years back, and by the
late Sir Richard Maynes order to the
police to seize all stray dogs whatever. In
the summer when that order was given
nearly = fifteen thousand dogs were so
seized, and London escaped, for the first
time in my memory, without single death
from hydrophobia A plain man like my
self looks at results, which are generally
more convincing than theories.


| 1t is very difficult in the earlier stages to
know whether a dog be mad or not; but
in all cases of doubt kill the poor thing at
once; it may save him much suffering, and
you from the narrowing reflection that
| some human being has bee bitten through
your neglect Madness is not always
traceable to dog having been bitten it
sometimes comes on spontaneously. A
friend of mine once owned a favorite
terries which had recently Uttered
five puppies and, as she was kept
constantly in his garden, she could
not possibly have been bitten for some
considerable time. But she suddenly dis
played unmistakable symptoms of mad
ness, and ran up and down the garden
with saliva flying from her jaws and her
head twitching from side to side, as the
| heads of all mad dogs do. This arises from
| the convulsive action Of the muscles of
the throat and neck, which invariably
characterizes hydrophobia-in human be-
ings, unhappily, as we'll as in quadrupeds
and the imitation of which makes poi-
! soning by strychnine so painful to endure,
and so horrific to see. Luckily my friend
himself was the first to notice her, and his
| first care was to close the doors and order
no one to go into the garden. He had no
firearms, and was afraid to leave the ho1se
to procure poison while she was at large,
lest she should scramble over the low wall
or some one should inadvertently enter the
inclosure. At last he thought of plan
which is worthy of being known, in the
event Of any of my readers being uufor-
tunate enough to need such an expedient.
He procured an old box without Ida
tea-chest would do, or any such thing
and, holding this before him, went straight
into the garden. The poor brute ran di-
rectly toward him, and had she come quite
close he would have turned the box over
her, and SO covered her with it; this he
could have done easily enough, for mad
dogs never dodge or twist about But even
in her frenzy her maternal instinct was
too strong, and she ran back to her kennel
and began sucking her puppies As the
end of the chain-Which was still round
her neck-hung out of the kennel, her
master seized it and fastened it to its sta
pie, then sent for some poison, and so
killed her; for she would try to eat, al
though she could not drink. But here is
the strangest part of the story, and to me
it seems very pathetic. All her little pup
pies were raving mad, too, and the foam
hung in fakes about their mouths, and
their poor little heads twitched Just as the
moJhers had done. They had sucked ir
madness with their milk, for she had not
bitten any of them. This was, in my eX.
perience, at least, new feature in the his
tory of hydrophobia.


The most dangerous characteristic ol
this disease is the capricious manner in
which it makes its appearance. Some.
times the dog will show for several days
that there is something wrong with him
moping and stunning those of whom he
has hitherto been fondest, while at othel
times, as in the case just given, it comes Oh
with frightful suddenness. The eminent
philanthropist, Sir T. F. Buxton, who wa.
great and good man in private as well al
in public, had truly terrible adventure
with large and favorite dog. He was
riding on horseback to London one morn
ing, from the vicinity of Hampstead
when he heard a great hubbub as he cams
through the village. and, to his horror
found that his own dog, which he had lef
behind him had broken out and, ravin1
mad was biting at every thing near. MI
Buxton saw him bite at least dozen dog
and several human beings. In vain dit
his master ride after him, and shout at O
, try to coax him; the brute no longe
obeyed the familiar voice. As they ap


preached London the idea of the mischie
he would do in the crowded streets becam


so overpoweripg that his master decide,
that it was his duty to run every risk, an
to capture him at any hazard and the do
fortunately turning up drive which le
to some lodge-ga.e, Mr.. Buxton spran


from his horse and clasped the raving ma


Newfoundland dog r3und the neck! Afte


a desperate struggle he dragged the anims


close enough to enable him to ring tn
: bell, and the gardener opened the lodge
t gate, Mr.. Buxton, with his permission
forced the dog into the garden, and a chai
I having been procured it was fastened t
0 the dogs collar and to tree. This part
r best told in Mr.. Buxton's own words:


e made the gardener, who was in te
: rible fright, secure the collar round Ii
e neck, and fix the other end of the chain I


tree, and then, walking to its furthe
v range, with all my force, which was near
8 exhausted by his frantic struggles, l fur


him away from me and sprang back. E
r made desperate bound after me; b,
K finding himself foiled, he uttered the mo
e fearful yell ever heard. All that day
6 did nothing but rush to and fro, champi1


the foam which gushed from his jaw
70 We threw him meat, and he snatched at
with fury, but instantly dropped it agai
e. "The next day, when went to see hir


thought the chain seemed worn, so
lg pinned him to the ground between Il
+. prongs Of a pitchfork, and then fixed


much larger chain around his neck. VIII,
~ l pulled away the fork, he sprang up al


made dash at me, which snapped the O
ut chain il two. He died in forty eight hou
K from the time he went mad"


Some might call this heroism; but


eny of rny readers should be placed in
n, similar strait, the more desirable pl
re would be to have the poor brute {
y, stroysa.


d. NJ next illustration is not genera
tie known (Sir T. F. Buxton's probably
w which has prevented me from dwelling
e- much on the details as his bravery
he serves), but as I was acquainted with t
ca cbior actor I can vouch for ito truth