A dictionary of practical surgery: comprehending all the most interesting improvements, from the earliest times down to the present period : an account of the instruments, remedies and applications employed in surgery : the etymology and signification of the principal terms : ... forming together a "catalogue raisonné" of surgical literature (Volume 2).

  • Cooper, Samuel, 1780-1848.
Date:
1823
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A dictionary of practical surgery: comprehending all the most interesting improvements, from the earliest times down to the present period : an account of the instruments, remedies and applications employed in surgery : the etymology and signification of the principal terms : ... forming together a "catalogue raisonné" of surgical literature (Volume 2). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    appt; ti££ fcinee the receipt of the foregoing;, the Doctor has had forwarded to him a communication, which, when read, will be found in affinity with the preceding. Remarks on Hydrophobia, more particu- larly as it occurs in Does ; in a letter from a gentleman of observation and experience in JVeiv-Jersey, dated March 15, 1822. Sir—1 lately read with much plea- sure, in the New-York Spectator of the 1st instant, Mr. Middleton's letter to you accompanying; Dr. Marochetti's very interesting report on the symptoms and cures of hydrophobia. As I consider it the duty of every member of the human race, to commu- nicate any thing that may in any way tend to elucidate or corroborate this wonderful discovery, (the greatest that has yet been made in medical science,) I beg leave to submit to your considera- tion two cases, which within these eighteen months have fallen within my personal knowledge and information, and may be depended on. On the morning of the eighteenth of December, 1820, while living in Canada, a favourite dog, belonging to me, of the Setter breed, showed what i imagined to be symptoms of madness, on which I immediately directed my servant to tie him up in an out-house, and to give him some salt and water, as he appeared from scratching his neck and throat until it absolutely bled, to have something sticking in it; this made him in a short time throw up a quantity of yellow frothy matter, and seemed to relieve him very much, so that at 12 o'clock he ap- peared free from every species of com- plaint. Soon after, the servant gave him some water, which he lapped freely, and immediately threw up a large quantity of the same yellow frothy matter, some of it in large lumps. From these symp- toms, 1 was induced to think that he had swallowed some poisonous substance, on which account 1 gave him some milk and water and fat mutton broth, which he took freely, and appeared as if sensi- ble of the attention paid him, and as usual wagged his tail, and readily obeyed every order I gave him. Next day his appearance was more unfavourable : his eyes appeared glazed and heavy, his tail drooped, his stomach and bowels were contracted, his back raised in a circular form, and his neck raw from continual scratching. At this time 1 had him and the barrow in which he lay removed to a warmer place, which I did without any difficulty, as he knew and obeyed me as usual; yet, soon after, when I held out my stick towards him, he laid hold, and left the marks of his teeth in it. In the evening I gave him some more milk and water, and mutton broth, which he took freely and went to rest. About midnight I was awakened by his incessant and apparently painful barking, which he continued without in- termission until daylight, when he exhi- bited what appeared lo me such un- doubted si;;ns of violent madness, that I was under the painful necessily of shoot- ing him. My servant then told me, that the day 1 desired him to be tied up, he made a snap at his thigh, and gave it a pinch, but having on thick pantaloons, and drawers, he did not break the skin, and no bad consequences have ensued from it. When staying last August with my friend, Mr. Grant, at Montreal, I happen- ed to mention all these circumstances to him, when he, pointing to a favourite dog, lying at his feet, told me, that about two years ago he was in so similar a situation, that he left orders with his servant to shoot him, and as he could not do it himself, or be in the way when it was done, he went into the country for some hours. On his return home, the first question he asked was, have you disposed of the dog? to which, to his great surprise, the servant answered, No, sir, I could not find in my heart to kill the poor dumb brute, and as he seemed by his violent scratching to have something in his throat, or «mouth, that caused his illness, I got a friend to assist me, who held him down while I opened his mouth for the purpose of examining it, and his throat, when under his tongue, I observed a large Blob or Tumour, which I opened with a penknife, and out of it came a great deal of nasty matter, which the dog threw out of his mouth, imme- diately leaped up, frisked about the room as if sensible of the cure that had been effected on him, and he is now as well as ever he was. Mr. Grant could hardly believe the story ; but the entrance of the dog into the room, in his usual man- ner, to his great jov, confirmed the truth of it. On Mr. G's relating these circum- stances to me, I mentioned to him, that I thought the matter of so great conse quence, that he ought to draw up a state ■ merit, and communicate it to some medi cal friend, as it might, perhaps, be the means of finding out a cure for the dis- temper in dogs, which I then thought it was, though was convinced, from Dr. M.'s report, that it was the real hydro- phobia. As I soon after left that country, I do not know whether or not Mr. G. follow- ed my advice; but in case he has not, I how give you all the circumstances of both cases, well cop-