THE ANNUAL BUGBEAR.
EVERY one has heard of the exploits of that wonderful cow com- memorated by GOLDSMITH, which, on being bitten by her mad master, stalked through the straw-yard on her hind-legs, at one time barking like a mastiff, and at another conversing like a farmer. We had hopes that the wit of the essayist, if not the science of the philosopher, had modified the terrors that haunt the people of England on the approach Of summer. But it is not so. Hydrophobia continues to exert its influence over John Bull's imagination as powerfully as when the Elegy on a Dog was first penned. It has been the topic of this week and the last, to the exclusion of almost every other. First came Mr. GRIFFITHS'S case ; and then came its contradiction, which we thought had been quite satisfactory, until, turning to the records of Bow Street yesterday, we found a Mr. THOMAS, who is, we believe, a zealous member of the New Police, gravely telling Mr. MINSHULL, another extra- ordinarily astute personage, that, for all the doctors said, he, Mr. THOMAS, believed from his own observation, that Mr. GRIF- FITHS did die of hydrophobia. The next was a case of astounding character—that of a boy named CHARLES, who died at St. Tho- mas's Hospital a few days ago. The moment Dr. ROOTS saw this boy, though his only complaints were difficulty of breathing, ac- companied with feverish excitement, he pronounced the case to be hydrophobia. He must be no ordinary physician who could, " out of the face," pronounce that symptoms which might have proceeded from a hundred causes, indicated a disease, of which perhaps not one man in the faculty ever saw half a dozen of au- thentic instances in his existence. The origin of CHARLES'S case is somewhat obscure. By one account, he was bitten about four months ago, by a cat, whose state has not been accurately ascer- tained, inasmuch as she was worried by a dog five minutes after the assault on the poor boy. By another account, he was bitten in. the hand by a wire-haired terrier, which was not mad ; and ac- cording to a third, he was bitten by a nondescript dog in the leg. In short, the poor lad seems to have been a common object of at- tack to all the cats and dogs in the parish ; and it is surprising they left a rag of him for the coroner to pronounce a verdict upon. The symptoms of the several bites seem to have been nicely marked. " He howled and shrieked like the canine species," we are told ; and " he jumped and climbed about the room like a cat." It is not said that he mewed, but we think it extremely pro- bable. Other symptoms are mentioned, which are quite decisive. He frightened two young gentlemen of the hospital out of their wits, by threatening to squirt turpentine over them ; and he bar- red the door of his room, to prevent the doctor's assistant from confining him With a strait jacket. We have only to add, that the assistant alluded to is introduced in the report as gravely observ- ing, that the saliva of the patient was dangerous, and consoling the jurors, who were, perhaps, not altogether at their ease in being in the same room with a man who had been tending such a pa- tient, that there was not much danger from dissection in such cases, as the operators generally used gloves.
It was to be expected, after two such terrible instances had oc- curred, that application would be made to the magistrates for the general destruction of all the idle dogs in the metropolis ; and we certainly have no objection to this process, nor do we object to in- clude in the slaughter the puppies as well. We must say, how- ever, one word on a disease which is fortunately one of .the most rare, as it is the most terrible, that affects humanity: First, as respects its cause. It is doubtful whether it bite from a dog or cat may not produce the disease, whetheilke animalbe avdlefais G"Afa§ileweviriII eite-lwa-13-4/Ail:- saliva of mad dogs differs, so far as we know, in nothing but quan- tity, from the ordinary and healthy secretion. In fact, hydrophobia is, if not absolutely identical, very difficult to be distinguished from that description of locked-jaw which so often ensues in warm climates, and sometimes in cold, after wounds in the extremities, however inflicted. Hydrophobia commonly affects the organ of swallowing, but not always. There have been patients who could swallow liquids or solids without difficulty or reluctance. It is not attended with aberration of mind, or at least very seldom, and only during the pdroxysms ; and the stories of howling and bark- ing are such as only fools can propagate or believe. Hydrophobia has been cured, it Is said. Two cases are recorded in the Gentle- man's Magazine, in one of which, bleeding, and in the other, a profuse perspiration, both accidental, saved the patients, if not from the disease at least from the doctors. Another and a better au- thenticated case than either of these is recorded by Dr. SHOOLBRED, of Calcutta, where bleeding was the instrument of cure. The excision of the bitten part, and cauterization, are recommended as a preventive ; and are said to operate as such, perhaps by deadening- the lacerated nerve. As to the saliva, a syringe will remove it as effectually as the knife. We are not aware if the practice that obtains in cases of gun-shot wounds, in. warm climates, of mixing opium with the dressing, has been adopted in curing bites of dogs ; it seems worth a trial. Finally, the good people of the metropolis may dismiss their fears of the hot weather as an exciting cause of dog-madness. That disease is unknown in warm climates. And, indeed, a moment's consideration will show, that if there be any truth in CHARLES'S case, the dog that bit him must have been in- fected long before the warm weather set in.
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