Since the first edition of the foregoing observations, I have seen a communication to the editors of the Medical Repository[86], by Dr. Physick, which has thrown new light upon this obscure disease, and which, I hope, will aid the remedies that have been proposed, in rendering them more effectual for its cure. The doctor supposes death from hydrophobia to be the effect of a sudden and spasmodic constriction of the glottis, inducing suffocation, and that it might be prevented by creating an artificial passage for air into the lungs, whereby life might be continued long enough to admit of the disease being cured by other remedies. The following account of a dissection is intended to show the probability of the doctor's proposal being attended with success. [86] Volume V. On the 13th of September, 1802, I was called, with Dr. Physick, to visit, in consultation with Dr. Griffitts, the son of William Todd, Esq. aged five years, who was ill with the disease called hydrophobia, brought on by the bite of a mad dog, on the 6th of the preceding month. The wound was small, and on his cheek, near his mouth, two circumstances which are said at all times to increase the danger of wounds from rabid animals. From the time he was bitten, he used the cold bath daily, and took the infusion, powder, and seeds of the anagallis, in succession, until the 9th of September, when he was seized with a fever which at first resembled the remittent of the season. Bleeding, purging, blisters, and the warm bath were prescribed for him, but without success. The last named remedy appeared to afford him some relief, which he manifested by paddling and playing in the water. At the time I saw him he was much agitated, had frequent twitchings, laughed often; but, with this uncommon excitement in his muscles and nerves, his mind was unusually correct in all its operations.