Dr. Sarah Pennell, senior lecturer; University of Roehampton, London
Lecture at Wellcome Library, London; 17 October 2012
Rabies is a virus transmitted across species, but not between humans. It is transmitted via saliva in a bite, and has been spread by dogs, bats, foxes, and pigs. In the 18th century, it produced what was interpreted as madness, including a supposed fear of water because of the bitten person's inability to swallow own saliva due to paralyzed neck muscles. It is inevitably fatal. Many people died within a day due to shock.
Treatment after a bite was begun by whoever in the household was doing kitchen physick, and then if possible, the victim would consult a surgeon. Why a surgeon? Because they were the ones who did the cutting into the body to bleed or remove bladder stones, so since this involved broken skin, the surgeon was the logical expert. At this time, no one knew how to prove a person or an animal had rabies until it was too late and death was inevitable. Therefore, everyone had to assume the victim had rabies, since the incubation period was variable -- 14 days to several weeks, and possibly up to 6 years.
Recipes for "bite of a mad dog" were found quite broadly. The most popular was immediate treatment by sucking on the bite and spitting out the blood, cutting the wound, or cauterizing it. Since salt water was considered to be the best treatment, the victim was immediately taken to the sea if possible. If not, then homemade salted water was applied. Other treatments included cinnabar, a medication including mercury, which made one salivate, and musk, which worked to decrease the muscle spasms. Brandy would be given to dull the pain.
These recipes were published in a variety of sources. Gentlemen's Magazine (founded 1731) published one in March 1738, since this news magazine was interested in disseminating medical information. Dr. Richard Mead (who was supposedly the best paid physician in London at 5,000 pounds per year over 3 decades*) included one in his 1702 book Mechanical Account of Poisons, the Cawthorpe Church in Lincolnshire promoted one they said cured everybody, and then there was the Almskurt cure. This mixture was sold by the Hills and Clarks business, and included chalk, treacle, and aluminum. It was ineffectual.
But how effective did a treatment have to be? There were very few documented cases of people dying of rabies. Of all the Bills of Mortality in London in all of the 18th century, there was not a single case recorded. In all of England in 1725-50, only 16 cases were reported. There hasn't been a case in the United Kingdom since the 1920s. There is a very clear set of progressive symptoms, so correct diagnosis would have been easy. More about the Bills of Mortality tomorrow.
It is interesting that the recipes were invariably about a mad dog, not another mad animal. This can be understood when you realize that in the 18th century dogs were not quite domesticated, and there was still anxiety about the proximity between dogs and humans. The randomness of who got bitten also added to the fear. For example, in the 1740s Lord Baltimore had 10 servants who were bitten, which demonstrated the elite were not protected. The stereotype previously had been that low class people got bitten because they could not control their low class dogs. Thus, in the summer of 1760, the Westminster district in London ordered all stray dogs be killed. By 1795 there was a tax on dogs, since the current thought was that if a dog was in London it obviously was not a hunting or guarding dog, so it could be taxed as a luxury. Dog collars were introduced as a means of controlling city dogs. Here is a 1772 etching of a wealthy lady with her servants, her gentleman, and cradling a small dog under her arm (Wellcome Library)."An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog" -- Oliver Goldsmith, 1766
Good people all, of every sort,
Give ear unto my song;
And if you find it wondrous short,
It cannot hold you long. In Islington there was a man,
Of whom the world might say
That still a godly race he ran,
Whene'er he went to pray.
A kind and gentle heart he had,
To comfort friends and foes;
The naked every day he clad,
When he put on his clothes. And in that town a dog was found,
As many dogs there be,
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound,
And curs of low degree. This dog and man at first were friends;
But when a pique began,
The dog, to gain some private ends,
Went mad and bit the man. Around from all the neighbouring streets
The wondering neighbours ran,
And swore the dog had lost his wits,
To bite so good a man. The wound it seemed both sore and sad
To every Christian eye;
And while they swore the dog was mad,
They swore the man would die. But soon a wonder came to light,
That showed the rogues they lied:
The man recovered of the bite,
The dog it was that died.
In 1776, there was a media-invoked panic regarding rabid dogs. Contemporaries felt the press was inflaming city folk, as they reported wild dogs moving from Oxford to the Oxford Road and into the middle of London. In July and August multiple dogs in London were killed, but none were proven to be rabid.
"We continue to be overly worried about rabies. There has been a case here and there up to the year 2000 in Germany. Western Europe and Australia are considered free of rabies, and it is a minor problem in North America," stated Dr. Pennell. 95% of rabies deaths occur in Asia and Africa.**
*(Lane, Joan. "'The doctor scolds me': The diaries and correspondence of patients in eighteenth century England" in Porter, Patients and Practitioners, 225.)
** World Health Organization, www.who.int/rabies/en/, accessed 14 November 2012.
From Primitive Physick for "The Bite of a Mad Dog:
477. Plunge into cold water daily for twenty days, and keep as long under it as possible. -- This has cured even after the hydrophobia [fear of water] was begun.
478. Or, mix ashes of trefoil [small plant of pea family with yellow flowers and three clover-like leaves] with hog's-lard, and anoint the part as soon as possible. Repeat it twice or thrice at six hours distance. This has cured many: and particularly a dog bit on the nose by a mad dog.
479. Or, mix a pound of salt, with a quart of water. Squeeze, bathe, and wash the wound with this for an hour. Then bind some salt upon it for twelve hours.
N.B. The Author of this receipt [recipe] was bit six times by mad dogs, and always cured himself by this means.
480. Or, mix powdered liver-wort, four drachms: black pepper, two drachms. Divide this into four parts, and take one in warm milk for four mornings fastings. Dr. Mead affirms he never knew this fail: -- But it has sometimes failed.
481. Or, take two or three spoonfuls of the juice of rib-wort, morning and evening, as soon as possible after the bite. Repeat this for two or three changes of the moon. It has not been known to fail.
Immediately consult an honest Physician." (Wesley, Physick, 79-80.)
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