Now, regarding the accuracy of the foregoing statement by Dr. Marcot, there is no doubt the observation, however, in regard to the irritation not affecting the absorbents, was long ago anticipated by several authors, who urged the freedom of the lymphatic glands from disease as an argument that the disorder did not depend upon the absorption of any virus. It is also noticed by others, who inclined to the belief in the absorption of the infectious principle.

Pain and heaviness are felt in the head: sometimes the headache is at first very severe, sometimes slight; but in the latter case it often becomes afterwards intense, general, and accompanied with a sense of pressure upon the temples. In certain instances the patient's sleep lasts a good while, though disturbed by dreams, while in other more frequent examples he is continually restless. The intellectual functions generally seem increased, the memory stronger, the conception more ready, the imagination more fertile, and the conversation more animated. On the other hand, some patients are silent and dejected, and when questions are put to them, the answers are short and peevish. But the greater number are active, lively, and talkative; at the same time the organs of sense betray signs of increased sensibility, and the eyes, which are very open and bright, avoid a strong light; sometimes the pupil is found to be considerably dilated. Extraordinary pains are felt about the neck, trunk, and limbs; it is not uncommon, also, for the patient to evince great anxiety, or to fall into a state of dull despair and melancholy. These last symptoms, of which great notice is taken by writers, are particularly ascribable to the effect of fear. The disorder of the organs of digestion is sometimes manifested in various ways, though it is far from being so frequent and striking as the affections of the head which precede it.

The disorder referred to consists at first in loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and afterwards constipation, and sometimes colic. In the first stage of the disease the pulse is generally somewhat more frequent and stronger than in health, and the countenance appears more animated. These symptoms then precede the second stage, or that of decided rabies, only by a few days, usually four or six, though sometimes but two or three.

The second stage of hydrophobia commences with the first manifestation of the dread or aversion of liquids. The ungovernable agitation and distressing sense of suffocation excited by the sight of liquids, the attempt to drink, or even the mere idea of drinking, is unquestionably the most remarkable symptom of the disorder. The patient is also frequently attacked with the same kind of commotion and suffering from other causes, such as the least agitation of the air or exposure to a strong light. Indeed, some patients are so much affected by a blast of wind, that they have been known to endeavour to elude it by walking with their backs towards it, while others scream out whenever the window or door of their room is opened.

Dr. Marcot, in relating the case of a patient affected with hydrophobia, observes that "on our proposing to him to drink, he started up, and recovered his breath by a deep convulsive inspiration; yet he expressed deep regret that he could not drink, as he conceived it would give him great relief, his mouth being extremely parched and clammy. On being urged to try, however, he took up a cup of water in one hand and a tea-spoon in the other. The thought of drinking out of the cup appeared intolerable, but he seemed determined to drink with the spoon. With an expression of terror, yet with great resolution, he filled the spoon and proceeded to carry it to his lips, but before it reached his mouth his courage forsook him, and he was forced to desist. He repeatedly renewed the attempt, but with no more success. His arm became rigid and immovable whenever he tried to raise it to his mouth, and he struggled in vain against this spasmodic resistance. At last, shutting his eyes, and with a kind of convulsive effort, he suddenly threw into his mouth a few drops of the fluid, which he actually swallowed; but at the same instant he sprang from the chair and flew to the end of the room, panting for breath and in a state of indescribable, terror." What an agonising picture for any one to witness!

It is now affirmed that the splashing or running of any liquid causes a great deal of inconvenience. As the system becomes more and more affected, the patient loses his sleep entirely, and has frequent and violent fits of anxiety and loud screaming from slight causes. "A woman whom Dr. Powell attended was often attacked in this way, in consequence of so trivial a circumstance as a fly settling on her face; the noise of tea-cups or the mention of any sort of drink greatly disturbed her, though she was not at all agitated by the sound of her urine. The currents of air entering her room whenever the door opened became very distressing to her, and this more and more so. The pain in her neck became so great that she could scarcely bear it to be touched, but she made use of a looking-glass without the inconvenience which hydrophobic patients usually suffer from the sight of shining bodies. Dr. Powell states that the paroxysms which the poor woman suffered resembled those of hysteria, and increased in duration as the disorder lasted. She described their commencement to be in the stomach, with a working and fulness there, and that a pricking substance passed up into her throat and choked her. She screamed suddenly, and grasped firmly hold of her attendants, as if voluntary and muscular convulsions came on, which were sometimes more, sometimes less, general and violent. The causes from which these paroxysms arose were extremely slight - the passage of a fly near her face, the attempt to swallow a pill, a stream of air, the sight of oil or wine, or any other liquid; even the sound of water and other such circumstances were sufficient She now also complained of inconvenience from light, which was accordingly moderated. The effect of sounds was peculiar, for though in the subsequent stages their influence became more general, at this period the effect was rather proportionate to the ideas they excited in her mind than to their violence. Bells and other strong noises did not agitate her, but the clatter of earthenware, the noise of a distant pump, or anything connected with fluids, produced the paroxysms in all their violence.