Hydrophobia; Rabies. Rabies is an infec tious disease, originating in dogs, possibly also in wolves, cats and skunks, and by them trans mitted to other animals by direct inoculation, usually by biting. Animals suffering from rabies are said to be "mad." Hydrophobia, the com mon name, means "fear of water," and the infer ence is that animals suffering from this disease are afraid of water; but this is untrue. "Mad" dogs usually crave water, but the excitement and effort of drinking are likely to cause con vulsions, which have been mistaken for fear. Although rabies has been studied extensively, and an attenuated virus for preventing the dis ease was discovered and introduced by Louis Pasteur, the germ of the disease, if germ it he, has not been isolated. The virus exists in the saliva, as well as in some other parts of the body, and when injected into a wound is likely to cause the disease. There is less danger from being bitten when the teeth of the rabid animal are cleaned by biting through cloth or leather. There is a popular idea that rabies is most prevalent during the hot months, but statistics show that a slightly greater number of cases occur during the winter months. In the dog, rabies occurs in two forms, the dumb and the furious, the latter being the most . frequently observed. The period of incubation, that is the time that elapses after the animal or person is bitten and the appearing of the first symptoms of the disease, varies from a few days to many months, the average being from three to six weeks. The first symptom usually seen in dogs is a dull, depressed condition. The dog crawls into obscure places and dislikes to be disturbed. He licks the original wound and the genital organs. The appetite is abnormal, the dog eating grass, sticks, dung, and the like. As the disease progresses, the dog becomes cross, snapping at space or at inanimate objects, at other animals, and at persons. A rabid dog shows a tendency to wander, often going long distances and attacking persons and animals. If confined he will bite sticks or other objects, and sometimes will tear his own flesh. In the later stages of the disease, the dog becomes exhausted, thesyes sunken, and the body emaciated. Asso ciated with this is paralysis, particularly of the hind parts and the lower jaw, the latter condi tion being accompanied with a discharge of saliva. The bark of, a rabid dog is peculiar, a short bark prolonged into a whine. Death occurs from exhaustion soon after paralysis 'sets in.
Post-mortem examination does not give defi-1 nite information. There is slight irri ion; of the stomach and bowels, the stomach containing sticks and other foreign bodies swal lowed by the dog during the progress of the disease. In order to diagnose suspected cases
of rabies, inoculations of the cranial cavities of rabbits can be made with some of the spinal marrow from the suspected case. If the rabbit contracts rabies, the diagnbsis is, of course, positive. After a dog has contracted the ease it should be put out of its misery, as there is no hope of recovery from rabies. The ani mal should be securely confined, as soon as sus picious symptoms develop, to prevent the possi bility of its injuring anyone. A person bitten by a rabid animal should have the Pasteur treat ment; the wound should be cauterized with nitrate of silver or other strong caustic, and' antiseptics freely used. Mange. The term mange as applied to ani mals is identical with itch in the human race, in both of which parasitic life exists in the skin, and is purely a cutaneous disease. Dogs suffer from two varieties, namely Sarcoptes Canis, sar coptic mange, and Acarus Folliculorum, follicu- ' for mange. So-called red mange is not due to t a parasite but arises from other causes, viz., too much meat or corn-meal diet, with insuffi-, cient exercise, deranged condition of the diges tive apparatus, worms, teething, sudden cooling of the body when heated, fleas, etc. The symp toms of sarcoptic mange are: intense itching, small red points appearing on the skin, which quickly develop into pustules exuding a fluid which forms scabs. When scabs are removed the hair will accompany them, leaving the parts nude. The parasite usually attacks the skin where most exposed, under the shoulders and thighs, about the hock joints, the feet and the eyes. Follicular mange also causes itching, accompanied by a fetid body smell, the pustules sometimes discharging. It does not yield easily to treatment nor is it as easily transmitted as ' sarcoptic mange, the parasite being more deeply seated. Treatment of both varieties consist of preparationio f mercury, such as corrosive mate, red or white precipitate, or ordinary mer curial ointment. Carbolic acid solutions are used. There are several mange remedies-on the, market into which these constituents enter.
Dogs suffer also from jaundice, pneumonia, enlarged glands canker of the ear, indigestion, rheumatism, ophthalmia, black tongue, sore feet, and fleas. For these there are the usual renie. dies for similar diseases in human beings, pills, liniments, fomentation, etc. Consult Barton, F. T., 'Our Dogs and All About Them' (Boston 1911); Mills, Wesley, 'The Dog in Health and Disease) (New York 1892) ; Shaw, Verb, 'Encyclopedia of the Kennel' (ib. 1913) ; Walsh, J. H., (The Dog in Health and Disease> (London 1859).