Mead, besides vomits, in this case, recommends acid medicines with lixivial salts. He says, that he has often given salt of wormwood mixed with juice of lemon in repeated doses with great success.
If the body should remain weak and languid after the poison has been discharged, nourishing diet and cordials will be proper; but when there is reason to fear that the stomach or bowels are inflamed, the greatest circumspection is necessary both with regard to food and medicine.
OF THE BITES OF POISONOUS ANIMALS.
We shall begin with the bite of a mad dog, as it is both the most common and dangerous animal-poison in this country.
The creatures naturally liable to contract this disease are, as far as we yet know, all of the dog kind, viz. foxes, dogs, and wolves. Hence it is called the rabies canina, or dog madness. Of the last we have none in this island; and it so seldom happens that any person is bit by the first, that they scarce deserve to be taken notice of. If such a thing should happen, the method of treatment is precisely the same as for the bite of a mad dog.
The symptoms of madness in a dog are as follow: At first he looks dull, shews an aversion to food and company: he does not bark as usual, but seems to murmur, is peevish, and apt to bite strangers: his ears and tail droop more than usual, and he appears drowsy: afterwards he begins to loll out his tongue, and froth at the mouth, his eyes seeming heavy and watery: he now, if not confined, takes off, runs panting along with a kind of dejected air, and endeavours to bite every one he meets. Other dogs are said to fly from him. Some think this a certain sign of madness, supposing that they know him by the smell; but it is not to be depended on. If he escapes being killed, he seldom runs above two or three days, till he dies exhausted with heat, hunger, and fatigue.
This disease is most frequent after long, dry, hot seasons; and such dogs as live upon putrid stinking carrion, without having enough of fresh water, are most liable to it.
When any person has been bit by a dog, the strictest inquiry ought to be made whether the animal was really mad. Many disagreeable consequences arise from neglecting to ascertain this point. Some people have lived in continual anxiety for many years, because they had been bit by a dog which they believed to be mad; but, as he had been killed on the spot, it was impossible to ascertain the fact. This should induce us, instead of killing a dog the moment he has bit any person, to do all in our power to keep him alive, at least till we can be certain whether he be mad or not.
Many circumstances may contribute to make people imagine a dog mad. He loses his master, runs about in quest of him, is set upon by other dogs, and perhaps by men. The creature, thus frightened, beat, and abused, looks wild, and lolls out his tongue as he runs along. Immediately a crowd is after him; while he, finding himself closely pursued, and taking every one he meets for an enemy, naturally attempts to bite him in self-defence. He soon gets knocked on the head, and it passes currently that he was mad, as it is then impossible to prove the contrary.
This being the true history of, by far, the greater part of those dogs which pass for mad, is it any wonder that numberless whimsical medicines have been extolled for preventing the effects of their bite? This readily accounts for the great variety of infallible remedies for the bite of a mad dog, which are to be met with in almost every family. Though not one in a thousand has any claim to merit, yet they are all supported by numberless vouchers. No wonder that imaginary diseases should be cured by imaginary remedies. In this way, credulous people first impose upon themselves, and then deceive others. The same medicine which was supposed to prevent the effects of the bite, when the dog was not mad, is recommended to a person who has had the misfortune to be bit by a dog that was really mad. He takes it, trusts to it, and is undone.