It is not every dog, that in the most aggravated state of the disease
shows a disposition to bite. The finest Newfoundland dog that I ever saw
became rabid. He had been bitten by a cur, and was supposed to have been
thoroughly examined in the country. No wound, however, was found: the
circumstance was almost forgotten, and he came up to the metropolis with
his master. He became dull, disinclined to play, and refused all food.
He was continually watching imaginary objects, but he did not snap at
them. There was no howl, nor any disposition to bite. He offered himself
to be caressed, and he was not satisfied except he was shaken by the
paw. On the second day I saw him. He watched every passing object with
peculiar anxiety, and followed with deep attention the motions of a
horse, his old acquaintance; but he made no effort to escape, nor
evinced any disposition to do mischief. I went to him, and patted and
coaxed him, and he told me as plainly as looks and actions, and a
somewhat deepened whine could express it, how much he was gratified. I
saw him on the third day. He was evidently dying. He could not crawl
even to the door of his temporary kennel; but he pushed forward his paw
a little way, and, as I shook it, I felt the tetanic muscular action
which accompanies the departure of life.
On the other hand there are rabid dogs whose ferocity knows no bounds.
If they are threatened with a stick, they fly at, and seize it, and
furiously shake it. They are incessantly employed in darting to the end
of their chain, and attempting to crush it with their teeth, and tearing
to pieces their kennel, or the wood work that is within their reach.
They are regardless of pain. The canine teeth, the incisor teeth are
torn away; yet, unwearied and insensible to suffering, they continue
their efforts to escape. A dog was chained near a kitchen fire. He was
incessant in his endeavours to escape, and, when he found that he could
not effect it, he seized, in his impotent rage, the burning coals as
they fell, and crushed them with his teeth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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