Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 1.djvu/211

 HYDROPHOBIA, OR RABIES. 203

which he partook heartily, and then went on his way home. Now if he was 93 in 1744, as stated in his deposition, he would be 100 in 1751. Col. Bancroft's mother died in September, 1754. Sup- pose this journey and call to have taken place in 1752, Col. B. would then be 14 years old, an age at which he would be likely to notice and remember these facts, and as Lovewell, according to the depo- sition, would then be more than 100 years old, it seems- to me to be clearly shown that his age, instead of being rep- resented at his death by the figures 120, may be more properly and truly repre-

��can be relied upon bearing upon this question? In depositions taken in 1744, he states his age to be 93 years, and hi3 wife's to be 83 years. Col. Bancroft, who was born in 1738, states that Lovewell, after he was 100 years old, walked from his home on Salmon brook to Tyngs- boro' meeting house, and then on the road towards Dunstable, Mass., to Thompson's, making nearly ten miles, and then was intending to return home on the same day, but was prevailed upon by Thompson to stay over night, and that on his return the next day he called at his father's house, and that his mother furnished him food and refreshment, of sented by the figures 102.

��HYDBOPHOBIA, OB BABIES.

��BY DR. W. O. JUNKINS.

��In order to the correction of certain prevalent erroneous ideas I am induced to contribute the following article on hydrophobia.

At the present time, when rabid ani- mals are so numerous, and the disease an epidemic, a just understanding of the dis- ease is essential for all, and it is only through the medical profession that the public can be enlightened.

Hydrophobia, or rabies, occurs spon- taneously in the dog, cat and fox. The disease is transmitted to man by the bite of a mad or rabid animal, usually the dog. It is not necessary that the animal should inflict an actual wound, for a sim- ple scaling of the outer skin is sufficient to permit the absorption of the poison. The disease is not developed for some time after the bite ; the time varying from ten to forty days. A very few cases have been said to occur some nine months after the wound was inflicted. The number who actually die from hydrophobia is about forty-seven per cent, of the number bit- ten. If cauterization is immediately per- formed, the number is diminished to thirty-three per cent. Hydrophobia has occurred from time to time in Europe, as an epizootic, and during the last year the

��disease has certainly been an epidemic in New England.

In this article I shall content myself with enumerating the more prominent symptoms as they occur in man and dog, and then give a plain treatment that can be understood by all.

Symptoms in Man. — At the seat of the wound the patient at first complains of more or less pain of a boring or pricking character; the appetite is diminished, and often nausea or vomiting is experi- enced, headache, associated with restless- ness and gloomy forebodings, compelling the sufferer to move about without any definite object in view, the latter symp- tom producing an indescribable feeling of anxiety. Muscular weakness, chilly sensations and heaviness of the limbs are the most important symptoms which we witness at first.* After twenty-four or forty-eight hours have expired (sooner in a few rare cases) comes the inabil- ity to swallow liquids. If the attempt is persisted in, it occasions violent parox- ysms of suffocation, which gives rise to the dread of water. The second stage, or stage of excitement, now supervenes, and all further attempts to drink are avoided. Often the sight of water, or

�� �