No. 4.] REPORT OF CATTLE BUREAU. 311 



was hoped that the State was free from this disease. There 

 has been a great deal of trouble in New York Stiite during 

 the past summer, due to the prevalence of rabies in certain 

 sections there ; and if tlie disease should be brought into 

 Massachusetts, and become as prevalent here as it was eight 

 or ten year.s ago, it might prove a; very serious matter. 



If this State should be so unfortunate as to be visited by 

 an outbreak of rabies this spring, it is not amiss at this time 

 to remind all persons that if a case of suspected rabies 

 occurs, the dog should be immediately isolated and the case 

 reported at the office of the Cattle Bureau ; or, if it dies, 

 the head should at once be sent, in as fresh and clean a con- 

 dition as possible, to the Cattle Bureau office for examina- 

 tion. This is especially important if a })erson is bitten, 

 because by inoculating rabbits it can be ascertained posi- 

 tivelj^ whether the dog had this disease or not ; and if it is 

 found that the animal had rabies, the person bitten can go to 

 New York and take the Pasteur preventive treatment ; if it is 

 found that the dog did not have rabies, there is no necessity 

 for the person bitten undergoing the preventive treatment. 



Recently it has been discovered that there are changes in 

 certain ganglia of nerve cells near the base of the brain, 

 known as the cervical ganglia, in dogs that have rabies. In 

 urgent cases, where a person has been badly bitten and 

 there is a delay in commencing the examination, an opinion 

 can be formed by an examination of these cells as to whether 

 the person bitten should immediately receive the Pasteur 

 preventive treatment, without waiting to see whether in- 

 oculated rabbits develop rabies or not. The rabbit test, 

 however, is the most exact. If a dog has rabies, and rab- 

 bits are inoculated intracranially, in the course of twelve 

 or fourteen days they will develop rabies ; if the rabbits 

 remain healthy, it is certain that the dog or other suspected 

 animal from which the material was taken for inoculation 

 was not mad. 



When it is possible, a dog suspected of having rabies 

 should be caged, so that it cannot do any damage before 

 it dies or is chloroformed. Destroying it by shooting is 

 not desirable for scientific work, as the bullet rends and 



