In estimating the value of any remedy, it is utterly impossible to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion without exhaustive experiment, and no physician of experience will indorse or condemn a new remedy or combination without a full test of its merits. It is often the case in canine practice that well-known and tried remedies, especially if they are powerful or quick to act, will have no apparent effect upon some dogs, while upon others action is feeble or delayed much longer than it should be, generally for the reason that they have eaten something that counteracts the virtue of the medicine given.

Occasionally a dog will be found upon which a certain drug or mineral will always fail to have any appreciable effect, no matter what may be the condition of his stomach. On the other hand, it is often the case that an ordinary dose, such as any veterinarian would usually prescribe, will prove to be much more than is necessary to produce the desired result, and in some cases danger may arise from this cause. For this reason, if no other existed, it will be readily understood that it is absolutely necessary that all powerful medicine should be administered only by those who are qualified not only to correctly diagnose a case and prescribe the proper medicine, but to determine from the effect produced what change, if any, is needed. As my friend Dr. Perry (Ashmont) well says in his invaluable work upon the diseases of dogs: "Remedies of the greatest efficacy and virtue become exceedingly dangerous in the hands of the careless and incompetent."

When in doubt as to the propriety of administering even the simplest and most harmless medicine to your dog, always give the poor animal the benefit of the doubt and refrain from giving it.

As I have before said, dogs that are healthy and vigorous escape many of the ailments incident to dog life; in fact, dogs in such condition, if properly cared for, very rarely, if ever, contract spontaneous or non-contagious diseases. Contagion and accident the dog may not escape, but when they do overtake him his condition enables him nearly always to speedily recover from the attack.

All works upon the general diseases of the dog devote a large amount of space to rabies. For the greater part, until quite recently, such space has been filled with the hallucinations and guesswork of writers of the past centuries. This long-continued repetition of erroneous statements and illogical deductions is probably owing to one or both of two causes: either the writers did not possess the necessary courage to break away from the old traditions, or they had not sufficient experience with the disease and the consequent knowledge to enable them to pursue an independent course.

In this country the disease is in my opinion extremely rare, even when we add to the list many so-called cases in which, to say the least, the proof of its existence is very doubtful. That there is, however, an occasional case I am not disposed to deny; but that it has ever been prevalent here to any great extent I do not believe.

Within the past thirty years I have conversed upon this subject with scores of our best-known physicians and surgeons, and so far I have been unable to find a single one who had ever seen a case of rabies or hydrophobia. So-called cases were, however, frequently met with, but in no one of them would the attending physician say that reasonable doubts did not exist as to its being a genuine case. Indeed, I have heard some of our best-known physicians testify under oath that their only knowledge of the disease was gained from their books, while some of them went further and solemnly declared that they did not believe that there was such a disease.

I have been called upon many times in cases that were pronounced to be rabies by the owner, but in every instance I have been able to conclusively show that the disease was not present, and up to this time I have never seen a genuine case. So very rare is this dread disease that I never expect to witness its horrors.

There are so many diseases among dogs in which some one or more of the symptoms said to be present in rabies are often seen that I believe it is impossible for any one, even were rabies present, to distinguish by the symptoms this disease from other diseases.

Nearly forty years ago I was the proud owner of a young pointer bitch that I thought was very near perfection, and I loved her with my whole heart. One day, while at the village store, we were startled by the cry of "mad dog." As we went to the door, my little brother came running up, and with many tears and sobs told me that Gipsy had run mad and been chased under a barn that was some quarter of a mile from the house. I was soon on the spot. I found an excited crowd watching one of their number, who was on his hands and knees, trying to see the dog in order that he might shoot her. Pulling him away from the aperture, I crawled in, and could see by the light from her eyes that she had gone to the furthest corner. I crawled to her, and at once saw that she was suffering from a severe attack of epilepsy. When near enough, I spoke to her and attempted to put my hand on her head; but she caught mv hand in her mouth and set her teeth nearly through, but at once let go and stiffened out, with only a slight convulsive movement. I then took her by the collar and backed out from under the barn. I was loudly commanded by everyone to "Come away and let him shoot her!" but I got upon my feet, and, taking her in my arms, told them that if they shot her they would have to shoot me, as I was going to carry her home. The crowd was determined and threatened to take her from me; but as she had come partially out of her stupor, and was snapping her jaws together and struggling, I answered them that the first one who put hands on me would get bitten, and they made way. I soon had her at home, where I bathed her head freely with cold water, and in less than half an hour she was as bright and well as ever. Until old age finally dimmed her bright eye, she had no more attacks of rabies. Although I have gone mad whenever I have seen valuable animals sacrificed to the blind ignorance of their owners, I still live.

A veterinarian of national reputation, with whom I had repeatedly argued the question, once invited me to visit a dog suffering from rabies that he pronounced to be genuine, unmistakably. Arriving at the place, we found the dog confined with a heavy chain in a strong room in a barn, the door securely fastened and the window strongly guarded with slats nailed across. Looking through between the slats, the poor animal was seen to be in terrible distress, and his cries of pain were heart-rending. Upon inquiry I learned that for nearly three days he had been in this state, with scarcely any cessation of his pitiful cries. In his paroxysms of pain the poor creature had bitten at the chain and surrounding woodwork until his mouth was terribly lacerated, and he was a most grew-some sight. After watching him a short time, I saw by the deeply sunken eyes and the partial paralysis of the hinder parts that the end was near, and at once told my companion that the case was clearly one of severe inflammation of the bowels, or peritoneum, and that death would very soon take place; but he refused to believe anything of the kind, and assured me that the disease would develop in a day or two so unmistakably that even I would be convinced. That evening I learned of the death of the dog, and that my friend had made an examination of the body. The next day he came to me and honestly confessed that he had never seen a case of rabies, and that he more than half believed that no such disease existed.

I could repeat many similar instances, but have perhaps said enough to at least put the reader upon his guard, so that he may not make the mistake of murdering his pet when he might be saved. I shall only advise in this matter that, when your dog has been bitten by a supposed rabid animal, or you think that he shows unmistakable symptoms of the dread disease, you should shut him up in a perfectly secure place, consult a competent veterinarian and carefully watch events, taking as many precautions as you think necessary to prevent infection. Above all else, carefully watch his symptoms, and minister to his wants and ailments, as you would do had you never heard of rabies or hydrophobia.