85 



with the germs of tetanus, which often swarm in the former, but 

 only one case of lockjaw from a cat scratch has been reported to 

 me. 



Rabies or Hydrophobia. 



All authorities agree with Pasteur that the cat is a medium 

 through which this disease increases in virulence for mankind. 

 The bite of a mad cat, therefore, is even more dangerous than 

 that of a mad dog. 



Rabies has been noted in Germany since 1809 among cats, 

 and the evidence seems to indicate that it was acquired from 

 foxes. A fox attacking poultry had an encounter with a cat 

 which, being bitten, later bit a servant girl who died of hydro- 

 phobia. In those days no remedy was known and fatalities were 

 numerous. The disease became epidemic among both wild and 

 tame cats. It spread widely, raging until 1827, and extending 

 to Norway, Denmark, England and elsewhere, including among 

 its victims dogs and wolves.^ Many people were bitten. 



In recent times the infection has been considered rare among 

 cats, but public attention has been called to this danger by the 

 recent death of little Grace Polhemus, of 372 Monroe Street, 

 Brooklyn, N. Y., which occurred in spite of the Pasteur treat- 

 ment. In this case the evidence of the cause and nature of the 

 infection and death of the child are conclusive. Thirteen years 

 old and in perfect health, she was playing in the front yard of 

 her home when she stooped to pet a stray cat, which bit her on 

 the right wrist. Letters from Dr. Albert Thunig, Brooklyn (who 

 was associated with Dr. Vosseler of Brooklyn in the care of the 

 case), and Dr. F. T. Fielder, assistant director in the vaccine 

 laboratory of the health department of New York City, contain 

 the following evidence: — 



(1) The child was bitten by a stray cat, Oct. 18, 1913, and 

 treated by a physician (wound sterilized with iodine) within a 

 few minutes. (2) The cat was captured, placed in charge of the 

 health department, its brain examined after death at the re- 

 search laboratory, and negri bodies found, proving that it had 

 rabies. (3) The Pasteur treatment supplied by the department 

 of health was administered to the patient by a physician for 

 twenty-one days. (4) There was no other bite or infection be- 

 tween this treatment and the time of the development of the 

 disease. (5) Characteristic symptoms of rabies began to appear 

 November 7, and as the symptoms progressed, it was evidently 

 a "classical, clinical" case of rabies. Death occurred November 



> Fleming, George: Animal Plagues: their History, Nature and Prevention, Vol. 2, 1882, pp. 15, 16, 

 7i-77, 80, 8»-91, 95, 99. 



