troubleth men most in February, and is nowadays frequent in Bohemia and
Hungary, according to [909]Heurnius. Scheretzius will have it common in
Livonia. They lie hid most part all day, and go abroad in the night,
barking, howling, at graves and deserts; [910]they have usually hollow
eyes, scabbed legs and thighs, very dry and pale, [911]saith Altomarus;
he gives a reason there of all the symptoms, and sets down a brief cure
of them.
_Hydrophobia_ is a kind of madness, well known in every village, which
comes by the biting of a mad dog, or scratching, saith [912]Aurelianus;
touching, or smelling alone sometimes as [913]Sckenkius proves, and is
incident to many other creatures as well as men: so called because the
parties affected cannot endure the sight of water, or any liquor,
supposing still they see a mad dog in it. And which is more wonderful;
though they be very dry, (as in this malady they are) they will rather
die than drink: [914]de Venenis Caelius Aurelianus, an ancient writer,
makes a doubt whether this Hydrophobia be a passion of the body or the
mind. The part affected is the brain: the cause, poison that comes from
the mad dog, which is so hot and dry, that it consumes all the moisture
in the body. [915] Hildesheim relates of some that died so mad; and
being cut up, had no water, scarce blood, or any moisture left in them.
To such as are so affected, the fear of water begins at fourteen days
after they are bitten, to some again not till forty or sixty days
after: commonly saith Heurnius, they begin to rave, fly water and
glasses, to look red, and swell in the face, about twenty days after
(if some remedy be not taken in the meantime) to lie awake, to be
pensive, sad, to see strange visions, to bark and howl, to fall into a
swoon, and oftentimes fits of the falling sickness. [916] Some say,
little things like whelps will be seen in their urine. If any of these
signs appear, they are past recovery. Many times these symptoms will
not appear till six or seven months after, saith [917]Codronchus; and
sometimes not till seven or eight years, as Guianerius; twelve as
Albertus; six or eight months after, as Galen holds. Baldus the great
lawyer died of it: an Augustine friar, and a woman in Delft, that were
[918]Forrestus' patients, were miserably consumed with it. The common
cure in the country (for such at least as dwell near the seaside) is to
duck them over head and ears in sea water; some use charms: every good
wife can prescribe medicines. But the best cure to be had in such
cases, is from the most approved physicians; they that will read of
them, may consult with Dioscorides, lib. 6. c. 37, Heurnius,
Hildesheim, Capivaccius, Forrestus, Sckenkius and before all others
Codronchus an Italian, who hath lately written two exquisite books on
the subject.
Chorus sancti Viti, or St. Vitus's dance; the lascivious dance, [919]
Paracelsus calls it, because they that are taken from it, can do
nothing but dance till they be dead, or cured.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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