HYDROPHOBIA.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 829, 30 May 1910, Page 8

HYDROPHOBIA.

- —. VICTIM DIES SIX MONTHS AFTER BITE. 'A SOLDIER'S FATE.. . Tho death from hydrophobia at Hackney Infirmary of George Edward Seaman, aged twenty-four, an ex-soldier of the 2nd Norfolk Regiment, formed the subject of inquest at the Hackpey Coroner's Court recently., Mrs. May Barker, mother of the unfortunate man, said he had been stationed at Gibraltar, and she heard that he and another man were bitten in the street by a mad dog. They were both sent to the Pasteur Institute in Paris, in September., The deceased came home, and ii« symptoms of ' ih# Hydrophobia displayed 'themselves until a fortnight ago, when ho said he did not feel well, and complained of pain in the elbow of the same arm which was bitten. The pain spread to the shoulder, and theoi to the back of the 1 neck.

The Coroner: Was,he in. any fear of it? "Was lie worrying about it?—l don't think so, because ho never said anything to me about it. "Some people say," tho Coroner added, "that you never do have hydrophobia, but that you worry yourself into, imagining it. Of course; that is very absurd. Death from hydrophobia is a most rare thing indeed in England since the passing of that very wise Act of Parliament, the Muzzling Act. That stamped out rabies. This case should, however, act. as a warning to peoplo ■to make sure that a dog that shows tho slightest symptoms of madness should bo kept under control. At Gibraltar dogs..tiro allowed to wander about at will, and here is a case where two men are killed."

The mother went on to say that subsequently the ' deceased's condition became very desperate,' and he could not swallow, and said he was going mad. He l>ecame so bad that a constable had to be sent for to restrain him, and ho was then removed to the Hackney Infirmary. Dr. John Joseph Gordon, medical super intendent of the infirmary, said the deceased was very violent when ho was admitted. He was a man of splendid physique, and complained of haying to dio so young from the bite of a dog. Ho had entered for the City Police, and had been medically examinod and passed. The witness heard that ho ' had been treated at the Pasteur Institute, but there was a delay in gutting him there. The doctor added: The last case I had in Hacknoy was twenty-eight years ago, and then the patient came in supposed to be suffering from tonsilitis.

The Coroner: It is a terrible sight to see a man suffering from hydrophobia. T remember one in mv medical student days, and the sight- will never be effaced from my memory.

The jury returned 'a verdict of 'Death from hydrophobia, and from accidental causes."