7 ms·
> If you doubt this’ll work, test it on a dog which is completely red. This really confuses me. Why does the dog need to be red? Also, if someone ever tested i
by blauditore 8y ago
> If you doubt this’ll work, test it on a dog which is completely red.
This really confuses me. Why does the dog need to be red? Also, if someone ever tested it, it should be obvious to not work...
- gnulinux 8y agoMaybe an old phrase meaning "rabid dog" or "raged dog". Rabies was probably orders of magnitude more common of an occurrence back then (which is non-existent in most Western countries right now).
- LyndsySimon 8y agoRabies isn't that uncommon in the US - uncommon in domestic animals, sure, but I shot a likely rabid skunk a couple of weeks ago. It was out during the day, was walking at an angle, and was aggressive toward me.
- gnulinux 8y agoThat's actually completely correct, I don't know how I missed that when I wrote my comment. I've never seen a rabid animal, but I know that in the US, squirrels and bats are still a significant vector of rabies virus. It's probably not a good idea to play around with wild mammals. EDIT: From Wikipedia: > In wild animals, bats were the most frequently reported rabid species (30.9% of cases during 2015), followed by raccoons (29.4%), skunks (24.8%), and foxes (5.9%)[29]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_rabies#USA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_rabies#USA
- mcguire 8y agoApropos of nothing, several Southeastern states are currently releasing rabies vaccine in food packets to cut down on the incidence in raccoons and other wild animals.
- gowld 8y agoRadiolab on a modern rabies case: https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/312245-rodney-versus-death https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/312245-rodney-versus-death
- AngryData 8y agoI had a racoon walk right through my open front door that was likely rabid. Looked like he was drunk and staggering, aggressive but not quite there. Ended up chasing it back outside with a piece of copper pipe since it was blocking the way to my varmint rifle.
- duxup 8y agoPresumably you would then test the theory. You'd have to attach the parchment with the words to the rabid dog.... then attack the rabid dog with a sword, gun or any other weapon. This seems inadvisable ;)
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoThink like a process control engineer. Roll the parchment around an arrow or bolt and shoot the dog with it and you've just removed a step. At "across the street" range it shouldn't affect accuracy very much
- duxup 8y agoI like that idea. Should also eventual test to see if parchment attachment time matter, penmanship on the words, etc. Gonna need a lot of parchment, rabid dogs... swords, etc.
- harimau777 8y agoI know at least in Shakespeare's day (and I would presume also in middle ages) gold was considered to be a shade of red, so Golden Retrievers would also have to watch their back.
- 876ret 8y agoThe reference to a Red Dog is likely to refer to the saying "seeing red", so yes a rabid animal can probably also be inferred just like Stags shed the velvet from their antlers exposing the bloodied red antlers at the start of the rutting season (a violent act to win over females) as seen here. https://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-6206553/Stunning-photos-deer-shedding-velvet-Alaska.html https://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-6206553/Stunning... Overall a red dog is almost likely to mean a dog that is angry for some reason.
- spicymaki 8y agoIt is probably hard to find a dog that is completely red, so there is no way to verify the cure beforehand. People must have thought the cure was rubbish even in medieval times.
- Tor3 8y agoAnd as the cure involves a bone moving upstream it's probably a "safe" recipe.. very difficult to actually test it.
- castlecrasher2 8y agoI read somewhere here on HN that medieval colors weren't precisely accurate. I wonder if red also meant brown or reddish-brown and dogs like the Rhodesian Ridgeback would qualify.