584 HYDROPHOBIA 



medulla or cord of the suspected animal must be taken, with all 

 aseptic precautions, rubbed up in a little sterile '75 per cent, 

 sodium chloride solution, and injected by means of a syringe 

 beneath the dura mater of a rabbit, the latter having been 

 trephined over the cerebrum by means of the small trephine 

 which is made for the purpose. In rabies in the rabbit 

 symptoms of paresis usually occur in from six to twenty-three 

 days and death in fifteen to twenty-five days. When the material 

 for inoculation has to be sent any distance, this is best effected 

 by packing the head of the animal in ice. The virulence of 

 organs is not lost, however, if they are simply placed in sterile 

 water or glycerin in well-stoppered bottles. 



(2) Treatment. Every wound inflicted by a rabid animal 

 ought to be cauterised with the actual cautery as soon as 

 possible. By such treatment the incubation period will at any 

 rate be lengthened, and therefore there will be better opportunity 

 for the Pasteur inoculation method being efficacious. The 

 person ought then to be sent to the nearest Pasteur Institute for 

 treatment. It is of great importance that in such a case the 

 nervous system of the animal should also be sent, in order that 

 the diagnosis may be certainly verified. 



