RABIES 79 



Government to appoint a Commission to report on 

 his method. In August, having witnessed many 

 experiments, the Commission reported favourably 

 of " these magnificent results, which are so highly 

 honourable to French science and confer on him a 

 new title to the gratitude of humanity " : and the 

 Government assigned to him a piece of land at 

 Villeneuve, for the purposes of his work. There 

 was much still to be done : the Commission must 

 verify every point, with further experiments and 

 control-experiments. By September, 1884, he had 

 attained the last step of his method : he had proved 

 that he could prevent the disease in dogs already 

 bitten : 



" I have not yet dared to attempt anything on 

 man, in spite of my confidence in the result, and in 

 spite of the many occasions which have come to me 

 since my last address at the Academic des Sciences. 

 I am too much afraid of some reverse which would 

 compromise the future : I must first wait till I have 

 got a whole crowd of successful results on animals. 

 As for these results things are going well. I have 

 already several cases of dogs immunised after rabic 

 bites. I take two dogs : I have them bitten by a 

 mad dog. I vaccinate the one, and I leave the 

 other without treatment. The latter dies of rabies : 

 the former withstands it. But, however I should 

 multiply my cases of protection of dogs, I think 

 that my hand will shake when I have to go on 

 to man."* 



* He writes this, on September 22, 1884, to the Emperor 

 of Brazil, who was keenly interested in his work. And he 



