es is
frequently observed in herbivorous animals, such as the ox, cow, or
sheep, but is most commonly found in the carnivore, such as the dog,
wolf, fox, jackal, hyena, and cat and other members of the feline
tribe. Fox reports several cases of death from symptoms resembling
those of hydrophobia in persons who were bitten by skunks. Swine,
birds, and even domestic poultry have caused hydrophobia by their
bites. Le Cat speaks of the bite of an enraged duck causing death, and
Thiermeyer mentions death shortly following the bite of a goose, as
well as death in three days from a chicken-bite. Camerarius describes a
case of epilepsy which he attributed to a horse-bite. Among the older
writers speaking of death following the bite of an enraged man, are van
Meek'ren, Wolff, Zacutus Lusitanus, and Glandorp. The Ephemerides
contains an account of hydrophobia caused by a human bite. Jones
reports a case of syphilitic inoculation from a human bite on the hand.

Hydrophobia may not necessarily be from a bite; a previously-existing
wound may be inoculated by the saliva alone, conveyed by licking.
Pliny, and some subsequent writers, attributed rabies to a worm under
the animal's tongue which they called "lytta." There is said to be a
superstition in India that, shortly after being bitten by a mad dog,
the victim conceives pups in his belly; at about three months these
move rapidly up and down the patient's intestines, and being mad like
their progenitor, they bite and bark incessantly, until they finally
kill the unfortunate victim. The natives of Nepaul firmly believe this
theory. All sorts of curious remedies have been suggested for the cure
of hydrophobia. Crabs-claws, Spanish fly, and dragon roots, given three
mornings before the new or full moon, was suggested as a specific by
Sir Robert Gordon. Theodore De Vaux remarks that the person bitten
should immediately pluck the feathers from the breech of an old cock
and apply them bare to the bites. If the dog was mad the cock was
supposed to swell and die. If the dog was not mad the cock would not
swell; in either case the person so treated was immune. Mad-stones, as
well as snake-stones, are believed in by some persons at the present
day. According to Curran, at one time in Ireland the fear of
hydrophobia was so great that any person supposed to be suffering from
it could be legally smothered.

According to French statistics, hydrophobia is an extremely fatal
disease, although