Hydrophobia

Disease of animals, particularly of the dog, wolf, fox, and cat, communicable from one to another and to man by inoculation with the saliva or ti ues of any affected animal. It may occur at any time from ten days after the time of inoculation, usually by a bite, up to one year. It manifests itself by violent cramps of the muscles, especially those of the throat, which are apt to be aroused by the sight of water or food (there being no genuine fear of water as such), profuse flow of saliva, and mental excitement, often amounting to mania or delirium. Death results from paralysis of the muscles of respiration and exhaustion. No treatment is of avail save by inoculation with a substance derived by an attenuation of the virus, obtained from a diseased animal, made by a series of cultivations, a method introduced by Pasteur. By some the efficacy of this treatment is denied, but it probably is effectual if undertaken in time. Cauterization of the wounds inflicted by rabid animals, if thorough, will, as a rule, prevent the occurrence of the disease, which may be due to a specific micro-organism.