296 LOUIS PASTEUR. 



the braiu substance placed, on the contrar}% at the 

 disposal of the experimenter, an abundance of the 

 virus, in a state of great purity and capable of long 

 preservation. 



The idea then occurred to Pasteur and his assist- 

 ants, to inoculate the virulent rabic matter in its pure 

 state under the dura mater on the surface of the brain 

 of a dog. Why not carry the virus, said Pasteur, 

 directly to the place of its activity and development ? 

 After having trepanned the skull of a chloroformed 

 dog, a little bit of the medulla of an animal which had 

 died of hydrophobia was deposited on the surface of 

 the brain. As soon as the influence of the chloroform 

 was dissipated, the dog recovered its healthy appear- 

 ance. It ate its food that same evening. But after 

 some days the symptoms of hydrophobia appeared. 

 The animal became dejected and restless ; it tossed 

 its litter about, refused all nourishment. A doleful, 

 sharp howling was the first indication of the rabic 

 voice, which is but one long cry of suffering and 

 appeal, mingled with barkings from hallucinations. 

 The stomach became depraved ; the dog swallowed hay 

 and straw. It soon grew furious, agitated with violent 

 convulsions ; finally, after a last fit, it died. During 

 all this time there was great rejoicing in the labora- 

 tory. They were at last in possession of a method 

 for singularly shortening the period of incubation, and 



