The Physical Training of Children

by Pye Henry Chavasse

Instantly put your finger into the throat and feel if the substance be within reach; if it be food, force it down, and thus liberate the breathing; should it be a hard substance, endeavor to hook it out; if you cannot reach it, give a good smart blow or two with the flat of the hand on the back; or, as recommended by a contributor to the Lancet, on the chest, taking care to “seize the little patient, and place him between your knees side ways, and in this or some other manner to compress the abdomen [the belly], otherwise the power of the blow will be lost by the yielding of the abdominal parietes [walls of the belly], and the respiratory effort will not be produced.” If that does not have the desired effect, tickle the throat with your finger, so as to insure immediate vomiting, and the consequent ejection of the offending substance.

289. Should my child be bitten by a dog supposed to be mad, what ought to be done?

Instantly well rub for the space of five or ten seconds—seconds, not minutes—a stick of nitrate of silver (lunar caustic) into the wound. The stick of lunar caustic should be pointed, like a cedar-pencil for writing, in order the more thoroughly to enter the wound. This, if properly done directly after the bite, will effectually prevent hydrophobia. A stick of pointed nitrate of silver, in a case, ready for use, may be procured of any respectable chemist. The nitrate of silver acts not only as a caustic to the part, but it appears effectually to neutralize the poison, and thus by making the virus perfectly innocuous is a complete antidote. If it be either the lip, or the parts near the eye, or the wrist, that have been bitten, it is far preferable to apply the caustic than to cut the part out; as the former is neither so formidable, nor so dangerous, nor so disfiguring as the latter, and yet it is equally as efficacious. I am indebted to the late Mr. Youatt, the celebrated veterinary surgeon, for this valuable antidote or remedy for the prevention of the most horrible, heart-rending, and incurable disease known. Mr. Youatt had an immense practice among dogs as well as among horses. He was a keen observer of disease, and a dear lover of his profession, and he had paid great attention to rabies—dog madness. He and his assistants had been repeatedly bitten by rabid dogs; but knowing that he was in possession of an infallible preventive remedy, he never dreaded the wounds inflicted either upon himself or upon his assistants. Mr. Youatt never knew lunar caustic, if properly and immediately applied, to fail. It is, of course, only a preventive. If hydrophobia be once developed in the human system, no antidote has ever yet, for this fell and intractable disease, been found.

While walking the London Hospitals, upwards of thirty-five years ago, I received an invitation from Mr. Youatt to attend a lecture on rabies—dog madness. He had, during the lecture, a dog present laboring under incipient madness. In a day or two after the lecture, he requested me and other students to call at his infirmary and see the dog, as the disease was at that time fully developed. We did so, and found the poor animal raving mad—frothing at the mouth, and snapping at the iron bars of his prison. I was particularly struck with a peculiar brilliancy and wildness of the dog’s eyes. He seemed as though, with affright and consternation, he beheld objects unseen by all around. It was pitiful to witness his frightened and anxious countenance. Death soon closed the scene!

I have thought it my duty to bring the value of lunar caustic as a preventive of hydrophobia prominently before your notice, and to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of Mr. Youatt—a man of talent and genius.

Never kill a dog supposed to be mad who has bitten either a child, or any one else, until it has, past all doubt, been ascertained whether he be really mad or not. He ought, of course, to be tied up, and be carefully watched, and be prevented the while from biting any one else. The dog, by all means, should be allowed to live at least for some weeks, as the fact of his remaining will be the best guarantee that there is no fear of the bitten child having caught hydrophobia.

There is a foolish prejudice abroad, that a dog, be he mad or not, who has bitten a person ought to be immediately destroyed; that although the dog be not at the time mad, but should at a future period become so, the person who had been bitten when the dog was not mad, would, when the dog became mad, have hydrophobia! It seems almost absurd to bring the subject forward; but the opinion is so very general and deep rooted, that I think it well to declare that there is not the slightest foundation of truth in it, but that it is a ridiculous fallacy!

A cat sometimes goes mad, and its bite may cause hydrophobia, indeed, the bite of a mad cat is more dangerous than the bite of a mad dog. A bite from a mad cat ought to be treated precisely in the same manner—namely, with the lunar caustic—as for a mad dog.

A bite either from a dog or from a cat who is not mad, from a cat especially, is often venomous and difficult to heal. The best application is immediately to apply a large hot white-bread poultice to the part, and to renew it every four hours; and, if there be much pain in the wound, to well foment the part, every time before applying the poultice, with a hot chamomile and poppy-head fomentation.

Scratches of a cat are best treated by smearing, and that freely and continuously for an hour, and then afterward at longer intervals, fresh butter on the part affected. If fresh butter be not at hand, fresh lard—that is to say, lard without salt—will answer the purpose. If the pain of the scratch be very intense, foment the part affected with hot water, and then apply a hot white-bread poultice, which should be frequently renewed.