CHAPTEE XXX 



GROUP VII 



DISEASES OF DOUBTFUL OR UNKXOWX ETIOLOGY. 



I. HYDROPHOBIA. 



Following the investigations of Pasteur, in 

 which it was found that the virus of hydrophobia 

 exists in the central nervous system in pure cul- 

 ture, the conditions seemed favorable for the dis- 

 covery of the specific agent. As in the case of 

 many other diseases, various bacilli, cocci, yeasts 

 and so-called protozoa have been described as the 

 cause, but satisfactory proof of their etiologic role 

 has not been provided. 



Certain protozoon-like bodies (Xegri bodies) Bodies of 

 found by Xegri in the ganglionic cells, are of a 

 suggestive nature. Their average diameter is 

 about five microns, but it varies between one and 

 twenty-seven microns. They possess a "round, 

 oval, elliptical, or coarse triangular form" (Marx), 

 are differentiated into a central granular and a 

 peripheral structure and may be surrounded by a 

 doubly-contoured membrane. Xegri considers these 

 bodies specific for hydrophobia and reliable as a 

 basis for anatomic diagnosis. They are found par- 

 ticularly in the pyramidal cells in the cornu Am- 

 monis, the cells of Purkinje in the cerebellum, 

 and the large cells of the cerebral convolutions. 

 Many others have confirmed the findings of Xegri, 

 and it is now generally conceded that the bodies 



