47 



frightful disease to be brought under subjection, 

 and certainly the results that have been obtained 

 appear to give hopes that an approach to some- 

 thing of this kind has been arrived at. Looking 

 at the nature of the disease there is nothing incon- 

 sistent with its being dependent upon a bacillus, 

 or microbe, as Pasteur calls it. On the contrary, 

 owing its origin as it does, when occurring natu- 

 rally, to inoculation with the poisoned secretion 

 of an affected animal, and taking into view the 

 facts that have been learnt in connection with 

 its transmission by artificial inoculation, evidence 

 points to such in reality being the case. If due 

 to a bacillus, why may not this bacillus be open 

 to attenuation in the same manner as that of 

 anthrax? if thus open to attenuation, why not 

 susceptible of producing a non-fatal form of 

 affection ? and if this condition has been produced 

 and passed through, why should not protection 

 be thereby given against the subsequent develop- 

 ment of the disease as a result of the primary 

 inoculation from the bite of the rabid animal? 

 Such a train of reasoning is quite legitimate, and 



