PASTEUR TREATMENT. 705 



spite of this fact, however, cauterization should 

 not be neglected, even when the Pasteur treatment 

 can be instituted at once. The greater the quantity 

 of virus introduced by the bite the shorter will be 

 the incubation period, and there is good reason to 

 believe that cauterization (actual cautery) prop- 

 erly carried out destroys a sufficient amount of 

 virus to prolong the incubation period. A long 

 incubation period is greatly in favor of the success 

 of the Pasteur treatment. 



In communities in which hydrophobia is known 

 to be endemic, in all cases of dog bite accompanied 

 by penetration of the skin, the patient should re- 

 ceive the Pasteur treatment. 



Pasteur's first protective inoculations were car- 

 ried out with virus which had been attenuated by Pasteur 

 passage through the monkey. The virus fixe ob- 

 tained from the rabbit, as described above, was 

 soon substituted for that of the monkey. In order 

 that an antirabic institute may continuously have 

 on hand a sufficient amount of vaccine, it is neces- 

 sary to inoculate two or three rabbits daily. For 

 this purpose an emulsion of the medulla of a rab- 

 bit which has died of hydrophobia is inoculated be- 

 neath the dura mater. A short time before the 

 animals would die of the disease, they are killed 

 by bleeding, and the spinal cords removed with all 

 possible precautions for asepsis. Each cord is cut 

 into two parts and each part suspended in a prop- 

 erly constructed jar which contains solid potas- 

 sium hydrate. After the jar is sealed desiccation 

 is allowed to proceed for fourteen days, at the end 

 of which time the infectiousness of the tissue has 

 so decreased that it is suitable for the first injec- 

 tion. The vaccine should be free from bacteria. 



