TRANSMISSION. 701 



excretions has been demonstrated: Suprarenal 

 gland, lachrymal gland, vitreous humor, urine, tes- 

 ticular secretion, lymph, milk, in the peripheral 

 nerves and cerbrospinal fluid. Marx states that 

 it has not been found in the liver, spleen, blood and 

 aqueous humor. Courmont and Nicolas found it, 

 however, in the aqueous humor of rabbits after 

 death. The possibility of postmortem invasion of 

 this fluid has been suggested. It has been found 

 occasionally in human saliva during life, and at 

 the site of the wound following death (Pace). 



Hydrophobia is transmitted almost exclusively 

 by the bites of infected animals, the virus being 

 conveyed in the saliva. Accidental inoculation may 

 occur in handling infected tissues. The virus does 

 not penetrate the intact skin, and it is customary to 

 consider a bite as harmless unless the continuity 

 of the skin is broken. Experimentally, infection 

 has been caused by placing the virus on the mu- 

 cous membranes of the conjunctiva, nose and 

 mouth, in the absence of discernible lesions. Pace 

 mentions a man who contracted the disease after 

 his rabid dog had inserted the tip of its tongue in 

 his (the patient's) nose. But one authentic ex- 

 ample of transmission from man to man is found 

 in medical literature. This occurred through kiss- 

 ing or biting, during coitus. In rare instances it 

 seems to have been transmitted from the mother 

 to the fetus in rabbits. 



The dog is the most common carrier of hydro- 

 phobia. In some countries (Eussia, Hungary) rabid 

 wolves cause many infections. The disease has been 

 conveyed by the bite of the cat, mouse and horse ; 

 and possibly by the skunk in some of our western 

 states. The dog is, however, the natural host of 



