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On the Bite of a Mad Dog.

"To prevent, therefore, all ill confequences arising from vulgar and common errors, the nature and effects of this poifon on the animal economy, the different methods of cure recommended in all times, and the few cures performed, are can. didly to be examined, and mankind freed, if poffible, from that most terrible reflection, that Providence fhould have permitted the whole animal creation to be liable to fo dreadful a disease, without pointing out, alfo, the means of cure.

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That this diftemper is not abfolutely incurable, many instances plainly prove; and Profeffor Boerhaave is of opinion, That, from the examples already fettled and confirmed in the cafes of other poi. fons, we ought not to despair of finding out the proper antidote for this alfo.'

"The author, before he proceeds to give an account of the fymptons occafioned by the bite of a mad dog, thinks it not improper to obferve,

"First, that wounds made by the bite of a perfon, in the height of anger, of enraged animals, or wild beafts, are always attended with fevere accidents: thefe are owing, as Celfus declares, very properly, not to any particular poifon in the animal, but to the violent laceration and compreffion of the mufcles, nerves, tendons, veffels, ligaments, and bones; particularly in the bite of a large dog, of an horfe, a wolf, a bear, or any fuch fized creature, whofe tufks and teeth either squeeze and bruife the parts they lay hold of, with fo much force as to make a deep wound, or tear away with exquifite pain, whenever their teeth` have not entered fo deeply. The fymptoms arising from thefe bites, are to the full, as violent as those which attend lacerated wounds, occafioned by any blunt-pointed or rough inftrument whatever; the

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"Secondly, fuch is the fermentation raised in the blood, by the paffion of anger, that the momentum of the circulation is greatly increased, and the fecretion of the faliva forced out, in a larger quantity, by the frequent pulfation and compreffion of the blood vcffels. Such perfons, or creatures, who are lefs liable to fweat, have, generally, a more copious difcharge of urine; but, in a violent fit of anger, the urinary fecretion is fufpended, and they throw out large quantities of faliva, which appears the more frothy, the more the perfon or animal is enraged, according to the velocity or circulation of the blood, which is fometimes increased to fuch a degree, as to produce an high fever, attended with delirium and convulfions, and which, in fome inftances, brings on an apo plexy, and death.

"Thirdly, That the saliva of a man, a horfe, a monkey, and even of a dog, is not poisonous in a found ftate; nor even when they are provoked to anger, common experience daily proves. The faliva is a thin,. tranfparent humour, which, heated on the fire, doth not thicken, is free from tafte or fmell, froths, when ftrongly fhaken, and is a glandular juice feparated from pure arterial blood, and confifting of water, fpirit, oil, and fome falt. Now I fhall only afk, fays the author, whe ther it is not univerfally admitted, that medicinally the faliva, both of man and animals, have been recommended externally as detergents and dryers? Is it not known that many perfons have found benefit from training young dogs daily to lick

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Spanish Blood-hounds.

foul ulcers, which no ointment could cleanfe fo well? And Lord Bacon has long fince taken notice of it as a common obfervation, that dogs are almoft the only beafts which delight in fœtid odours; whence their readiness to lick their own and other fores, may be accounted for: and there never was known a fingle inftance in which the faliva of a young dog, although it has effectually acted as the moft powerful deterfive on ulcers, and has been received on thofe ulcers when bleeding, hath produced the leaft figns of madnefs, or hydrophobia, merely because the dog was in a found ftate.

"No other symptoms, therefore, will arife after the bite of an angered perfon, or an enraged animal, fuch as an horfe, a monkey, or a dog, than will appear from lacerated and contufed wound violently compreffed and torn.”

(To be continued.)

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SPANISH BLOOD-HOUNDS!

O whom the merit of this CA

TNINE expedition may belong, we know not; but certain it is, that three packs of hounds, trained to hunt the human footftep, are now purfuing the chafe of blood in the Maroon country, in the island of Jamaica. They were brought over from Hifpaniola, headed by fifty Spanish hunters, armed with fpears, who, on their arrival at Jamaica, declared, that they wanted no other force to extirpate the whole Maroon race! They accordingly went out in pursuit of them, and had committed horrible carnage when the last dispatches left the ifland ! The dogs kill, and fuck the blood. of all they overtake, and those miferable wretches, who may effect, by flight, a temporary escape, have no other alternative than being ftarved, or eventually torn to pieVOL. VII. No. XLII.

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ces; for the hounds pursuing them, will lie at the mouth of the Maroon caves for their prey, longer than the wretched tenants can remain within for want of food!

The following is the fubftance of a debate in the Houfe of Commons, relative to the fending for, and employing the Spanish hunters and blood-hounds against the Maroons, in the island of Jamaica.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Feb. 26.

General M'Leod thought he had a statement of importance to fub. mit to the confideration of the House and the Miniftry. He had read this day, in a paper, that the Maroons of Trelawney town had been hunted by bloodhounds brought from Cuba. The information ftates," Strange might the idea appear, but it is fact, we have imported from Cuba, one hundred b'ood-hounds, attended by twenty Spanish chaffeurs !" But gentlemen would be beft able to judge from the perufal of the whole information alluded to:

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Spanish Blood-hounds.

ing our fituation, &c. and they are again retreated farther into the woods than ever. Strange might the idea appear, but it is a fact, we have imported from Cuba, one hundred blood-hounds, attended by twenty Spanish chaffeurs, and they laft Friday proceeded in the woods to hunt out and deftroy the enemy. It is the opinion of the people in general, they will have the defired effect."

"Query, what effect will it have on Mr. Wilberforce? I fuppole he fhrinks at the idea of bunting human flesh and blood, as he ftiles them, with blood - hounds. We all with him prefent. We had fevere duty during the Christmas holidays, in keeping in and about this town, that being the critical juncture to obferve the difpofitions of the flaves; but I am happy to fay, they are univerfally well affected, and I never faw a quieter Christmas: there is very little to be dreaded from them. One half Kingston is in Trelawney; have been there these three months myfelf! have been in one expedition against Charlestown; they imme. diately lay down their arms.

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"In addition to a number of fine fellows that have loft their lives, it has coft the country above half a million fince the commencement of the prefent unfortunate war. would fcarcely credit that 500 of thefe fellows could fo long withftand upwards of 5000 troops which are the number against them; they got into the interior parts of the mountains, and it is impoffible to get at them. I fuppofe you are almost tired of reading; if not, I am almost tired of writing; fo will conclude this fubject by wishing a Speedy extirpation of them."

After a few obfervations, the General recommended the horrid

tranfaction to the serious confideration of Parliament, interested in the honour and humanity of their country.

Mr. Yorke faid, that it had been common to use dogs in finding out the haunts of the Maroons, murderers, and affaffins. If fuch a plan had been adopted merely for the purposes alluded to, without its application to the increase of human carnage, it was not of such a culpable nature as had been prefented; but Mr. Yorke reprobated all fuch measures, founded in the apparent extreme of cruelty.

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Mr. Fox was convinced, that it never was the intention of Government to carry on war in fuch a barbarous manner as reprefented; but the facts were of fuch a serious nature, that the honour of the country demanded an immediate investigation.

The converfation was then dropt.

March 21.

It was again refumed, when General M'Leod wifhed, before he entered into a detail of the business which he had given notice to bring forward, to fay a few words, in order to wipe away fome afperfions that had in print, and in converfati. on, been thrown out against him.— He had been accused of private malice to a noble lord (Balcarras) and of hypocrify, inafmuch as he was faid to have introduced the fubje& he was then entering upon, under the mask of friendship to that noble lord. He would declare that these accufations were unfounded. He had long lived in habits of intimacy with the noble lord in question, and could have no motive in charging him with any thing difhonourable: He would alfo absolve his Majesty's minifters from all fhare in fo dif graceful a tranfaction: and he had perceived, on his first mentioning

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Spanish Blood-hounds.

it, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was ftruck with horror. The firft account he bad heard of the business was contained in a newspaper, (an account not always to be depended upon) but he had fince received a letter from Jamaica, which ftated, that one hundred blood - hounds had been brought from the island of Cuba, with a certain number of chaffeurs to hunt and destroy the Maroons. The writer of this letter ftated, that the hounds had been employed fuccefsfully, and expreffed his wifh that the Maroons might be foon exterminated, and that Mr. Wilberforce might be there in order. to be hunted alfo. From this circumftance it was evident that the writer was not inimical to government, and therefore more deferving of credit, as he had no intereft in exaggerating facts. The Maroons were free men, with whom treaties had been entered into by the government of Jamaica, and therefore fhould not be hunted in fuch a barbarous manner, but treated like other enemies. The hounds were the fame race of animals that had formerly been used by the Spaniards for the purpose of exterminating the Indians, with whofe flesh they used to feed their dogs, when they were committing those horrid and barbarous cruel. ties, at the mention of which every body muft fhudder. Thofe cruel Spaniards used to feed their hounds with the flesh of Indians, to accustom them to hunt them with a keener appetite. Such were the monsters that Englishmen were now to imitate and the fportfmen in these glorious chases were the Britifh planters in Jamaica, and British officers. The Houfe fhould interpofe on fuch an occafion, and his Majefty fhould, by expreffing his difapprobation of the measure,

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wipe away the stains which would otherwife be as much attached to his reign, as to that of former Monarchs of Spain. It did not appear that the war with the Maroons was a juft one on the part of the Bris tish; the cause of it had not been ftated; but if it was juft, fuch a mode of purfuing it was unjuft. It was laid down in Puffendorff, Grotius, and other writers on the laws of nations, that no improper weapons ought to be used in war; neither poifon nor affaffination, because the oppofite parties must adopt fimilar means of deftruction, and that would lead to endlefs horrors. By the expedients in queftion, we furnished an example to the French who might also get blood-hounds, and then they would plead the example of England. His motion would not go to throw any blame upon officers; he would only move for the production of all the papers and the information that has been received by his Majefty's Minifters, as to the mode of carrying on the war against the Maroons, in the Weft Indies.

Mr. Dundas felt confiderable difficulty in complying with the motion of the Honourable General. The war did not take place from any injuftice or oppreffion on the part of Jamaica, which, ever fince the war began, had been in a state of horror and diftraction. The Maroons iffuing from their strong fortreffes in the mountains, uled to destroy the families of all those planters who lived at the bottom of the hill; therefore every meafure was thought expedient which might put an end to the alarm and fufpenfe, that all laboured under, while the militia of the country were very few. He never understood that the hounds had been employed in Cuba for the purpose that had been ftated; he believed, the ufe made

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made of them was to find out runaway negroes, and not to do them any injury. He would object to the motion, becaufe the ground on which it was made (the authority of a fingle letter) was not fufficient; and any information which the Houfe could have on the subject must be lame and imperfect.

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Mr. Barham faid, that gentlemen need not go to Cuba to know what blood-hounds were. Gentlemen in this country had kept them to prevent their venifon from being ftolen; but he believed they had been used in Jamaica only to difcover the haunts of the Maroons, the object of the war with whom was to preferve the inhabitants of Jamaica, their wives, and their children, from being murdered night. It was no more a war than fuch as might be fuppofed to be carried on againft plunderers and robbers lurking in a foreft, and when there was no other means of finding them out, this fhould have been reforted to. The rebellion of the Maroons was occafioned by one of them having received a flight punishment for an offence, upon which the laws of England would have inflicted a moft severe one.

Mr. M. Robinfon was for the motion.

Mr. Sheridan faid, it was with c ner he had heard any perfon juft fy the measure in queftion. The Maroons were very few in number, and it was impoffible that they could have been fo formidable as to justify the attacking them with bloodhounds. But it seemed as if minorities were fometimes capable of making a strong refiftance. It had been faid, that the Maroons were rebels: how could that be, when they were a separate and indepen. dent people? The cause of their entering into a war with us was to feek reparation for an injury; one

of their nation was whipped by the English for having fiolen a pig: a punishment which, according to the treaties which fubfifted between them and the planters, the latter had no right to inflict. That was

the origin of the war. The Maroons had been a people extremely ufeful, and it was the height of impolicy, as well as cruelty, to endeavour to exterminate them.

Mr. Barham faid, they were murderers, and a war of extermination was neceffary.

Mr. Courtney wished to know by what language dogs, which were fent to hunt men, fhould be taught not to hurt them. It was impoffible to prevent them from tearing in pieces thofe whom they purfued. At the time the dogs were landed on the beach at Jamaica, one of them feized a poor woman, a fol. dier's wife, and fastened fo in her flesh, that they were obliged to kill him with their bayonets before they could get him away. The Maroons did not exceed four hundred, and furely that number could be defeated without having occafion to imitate the Spaniards, who must ever be held in execration.

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