a ae 
if abforption take place at all, it probably does not 
commence till the part affected begins to inflame 
afrefh, and grow painful. I therefore fhould not 
now hefitate to recommend the operation at any in- 
termediate period, from the accident till the com- 
mencement of the difeafe. Whether it can avail after 
the commencement of the dread of water, may, per- 
haps, deferve a trial. That even at this period, the 
poifon ftill remains local, and neither affeéts the folids 
nor fluids, nor any of the fecretions, the faliva ex- 
cepted, feems probable from this confideration, that 
not only the flefh and milk of cows bitten by rabid 
animals have been ufed with impunity, but even the 
liver of the mad-dog himfelf has often been-taken as 
-aremedy, without communicating the difeafe. Since 
neither nurfes, who inhale the patient’s breath and 
wipe away the vifcid faliva, nor furgeons who’ open 
the dead body, receive any injury or infection, the 
faculty and attendants may fafely difcharge their duty 
to the fick without fear or apprehenfion. 
Extirpation may be performed by the knife, or by 
cauftic, according as circumftances may point out. 
The former, being more expeditious and lefs painful, 
claims the preference; befides, in cutting out the 
difeafed part, the mark of the tooth may be more 
carefully traced, and the line of feparation better 
defined. To whatever depth the bite may penetrate, 
the incifion ought certainly to extend beyond it in 
every direction. For fhould the minuteft purticle 
of 
