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child was bitten by a rabid dog at York, and became hydrophobous. All possibility of relief having vanished, the parents, desirous of putting an end to the agony of their child, or fearful of its doing mischief, smothered it between two pillows. They were tried for murder, and found guilty. They were afterwards pardoned; but the intention of the prosecutor was that of deterring others from a similar practice, in a like unfortunate situation
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1821, a physician, at Poissy, was sentenced to pay 8000 francs (£320) to a poor widow whose husband died of hydrophobia, in consequence of a bite from the physician's dog, he knowing that the dog had been bitten, yet not confining him.
Our [author] having written so extensively upon the subject of rabies, it would seem superfluous in us to attempt to add anything more upon a subject so ably and practically handled by one having so great opportunities to make personal observations. However, to allay the feelings of many of our dogkilling citizens, we will not hesitate to assert that we do not place as much credence in the frequency of rabies as is generally done; but, on the other hand, are strongly led to believe that the accounts of this much-dreaded malady are greatly exaggerated both in this country and in England.
That there may be a few cases of rabies in our country in the course of a year, we do not doubt; but, at the same time, we are satisfied that the affection in its genuine form is quite rare, and that the great hue and cry made every season about mad dogs, is more the result of ignorance and fright than of reality.
Our limits in this publication would not allow us sufficient space to enlarge upon the many pathological questions naturally arising from a minute examination of this subject, more particularly as our views are somewhat at variance with the generally received opinion, and which, of course, we would be forced to express with considerable diffidence, owing to the impossibility of collecting such evidence as might seem necessary to substantiate any peculiar doctrine.
That tetanus, hysteria, and other spasmodic affections have often been mistaken for rabies, there is no doubt, and we can easily imagine the mental effect produced upon an individual of a highly nervous temperament, by the knowledge of his being bitten by an animal known to be hydrophobic; and we can, without difficulty, reconcile with our best judgment the belief that the workings of such an individual's imagination, occasioned by the never-ceasing dread of the horrid malady to which he is now exposed, might be sufficient to produce a train of symptoms somewhat resembling the actual state of rabies.
For the benefit of these nervous unfortunates, we might say to them, that the statistics of this affection show a very considerable ratio in favour of escape from inoculation when bitten, or of entire recovery even after the development of the disease, and that there are many other ills in the catalogue of medicine that they should take equal pains to provide against as lyssa canina. We doubt not that the minds of many will be relieved, when informed that John Hunter mentions an instance, in which, out of twenty persons bitten by a rabid dog, only one suffered from the malady; and that of fifty-nine dogs inoculated by Professor Hertwick at the veterinary school of Berlin, only fourteen were affected; and of eleven patients entrusted to the care of M. Blaise of Cluny, seven recovered after exhibiting greater or less degrees of spasmodic symptoms.
It [may] prove interesting to our readers, to insert in these pages an account of the first two cases of rabies known in Philadelphia, and as related to us by a venerable and much-esteemed citizen, who is well known in the scientific world as a gentleman of deep research, and we agree with him in opinion, that this much-dreaded disease is most frequently the result of like causes, or rather that like symptoms often induce the belief of the presence of this malady, when, in fact, no such disease does exist.
Towards the close of the last century, there lived a tailor in Front street, near Market, in the midst of the most respectable people of that period; among the number was our esteemed friend Mr. Hembel, as also Judge Tilghman. This tailor possessed an ill-tempered little spaniel, who, lounging about the street-door, attacked every one that passed by, snapping and snarling in the most worrisome manner, more particularly at every little urchin that invaded his "right of pavement," and not unfrequently biting them or tearing their clothes from their back. The owner of the dog was appealed to on many occasions by the neighbours, begging that the quarrelsome brute should either be disposed of or kept within doors. To all these solicitations and warnings the little tailor paid no heed, but continued stitching his breeches and cribbing his customers' goods, while the ugly little spaniel, without interruption, amused himself by snapping at and biting the heels of the passers-by.
The nuisance at last became insufferable, and Judge Tilghman applied to Mr. Hembel to assist him in getting rid of this troublesome brute; the latter gentleman advised the administration of a small quantity of strychnia, concealed in a portion of meat, which proposition was agreed upon and immediately carried into execution. A short time after the administering of this dose the spaniel sickened, and retired from his post to the kitchen, which was in the basement, and where an Irish domestic was engaged in washing; the dog appeared uneasy for a time, and suddenly, being taken with the involuntary muscular convulsions that so frequently follow the administration of this powerful drug, ran around the kitchen yelping and howling at a most terrible rate, and ultimately, to the no small discomfiture and amazement of the maid, sprang up into the wash-tub, at which unceremonious caper, on the part of the dog, the woman became greatly alarmed and ran out into the street, followed by the whole household, crying mad dog, which soon produced an uproar in the neighbourhood, no one daring to satisfy himself as to the correctness of the report, and all, perhaps, too ignorant of the subject to discern the real cause of the animal's singular behaviour. The tailor, still bearing a strong attachment to his unfortunate favourite, and being somewhat more daring than his neighbours, ventured, at length, to peep into the kitchen to see the state of affairs, and seeing the dog still convulsed and foaming at the mouth, was more than ever confirmed in the belief of hydrophobia, and knowing full well the biting propensities of the animal, independent of rabies, concluded, much to the relief of every one, to shoot him. The next step in the programme was the dragging out and consigning of the patient to a watery grave, which was accomplished by placing, with a pair of tongs, a noose over the head of the animal, and thus hauling him out of the basement window amid the cheers of the assembled populace who soon cast him into the Delaware.
The second case of rabies as related to us by Mr. Hembel was as follows: — In 1793 the barbers of the city were in the habit of going around to the various boarding-houses for the purpose of shaving the visitors in their apartments, instead of accommodating them, as at the present time, in their own establishments.
One of these knights of the razor, living also in Front street, when going to and from a fashionable boarding-house in the vicinity, was not unfrequently assailed by a small cur who often took him by the heels when hurrying along.
To get rid of this annoying little animal as speedily and secretly as possible, he had recourse to the powers of strychnia, which produced in a very short time similar effects upon the poor victim, and the result was another great hue and cry about mad dogs.
These authentic and remarkable cases of hydrophobia were heralded in all the papers of the day, which, from that time forward, were filled with notes of caution to all dog-owners.
Of the treatment of rabies we will make but a few remarks, as of the immense number of specifics proposed for this disease, amounting in all to several hundred, few or none can be relied on to the exclusion of the others; but those medicines, perhaps, known as opiates or anti-spasmodics, claim a larger share of attention than any others in combating the disease after its development. In [looking] over the very original works of Jacques Du Fouilloux, a worthy cynegetical writer of the sixteenth century, we find a prescription that was supposed by many to be an infallible specific for this disease, and as it appears to us quite as certain in its effects on the animal economy as many others of the inert substances that have been lauded to the skies both in our country and in other parts of the world as antidotes, we take the liberty of transcribing it, as also of adding a translation of his quaint French.
Autre recepte par mots preservants la rage.
'Ay appris vne recepte d'vn Gentil-homme, en Bretaigne, lequel faisoit de petits escriteaux, où n'y auoit seulement que deux lignes, lesquels il mettoit en vne omellette d'oeufs, puis les faisoit aualer aux chiens qui auorient esté mords de chiens enragez, et auoit dedans l'escriteau, Y Ran Quiran Cafram Cafratrem, Cafratrosque. Lesquels mots disoit estre singuliers pour empescher les chiens de la rage, mais quant à moi ie n'y adiouste pas foy.
I have learned a recipe from a nobleman of Brittany, which is composed of a written charm, in which there are only two lines; these he put in an omelet of eggs, he then made the dogs that had been bitten by a rabid animal swallow them. There was on the paper "Y Ran Quiran Cafram Cafratrem, Cafratrosque". These words were said to be singularly efficacious in preventing madness in dogs, but for my part I do not credit it.
Although our quaint author considered the above charm even too marvellous for his belief, we give below his own prescription in which he placed implicit confidence, but, no doubt, on trial it would prove "as singularly efficacious" as the other.
Baing pour lauer, les chiens, quand ils ont esté mords des chiens enragez, de peur qu'ils enragent.
Quand les chiens sont mords ou desbrayez de chiens enragez, il faut incontinent emplir vne pippe d'eau, puis prendre quatre boisseaux de sel et les ietter dedans, en meslaut fort le sel auec vn baston pour le faire fondre soudainement: et quand il sera fondu, faut mettre le chien dedans, et le plonger tout, sans qu'il paroisse rien, par neuf fois: puis quand il sera bien laué, faut le laisser aller, celà l'empeschera d'enrager.
When a dog has been bitten or scratched by another affected with madness, we must immediately take a tub of water and throw into it four bushels of salt, stirring it briskly with a stick to make it dissolve quickly. When the salt shall be dissolved, put the dog into the bath, and plunge him well nine times, so that the bath shall cover him each time; now that he is well washed you may let him go, as this will prevent his becoming rabid.