478 RABIES 



meters of sterile water or bouillon. This forms the suspension 

 to be injected. 



The hands of the operator and all instruments are care- 

 fully disinfected. The rabbit is etherized, the hair clipped 

 from the head between the eyes and ears, and the skin 

 thoroughly washed and disinfected. A longitudinal incision 

 is then made, the skin and subcutaneous tissue held back by 

 means of a speculum, a crucial incision is made in the perios- 

 teum on one side of the median line, to avoid hemorrhage from 

 the longitudinal sinus, and the four parts of the periosteum 

 reflected or pushed back. By the aid of a trephine a small 

 button of bone is easih' removed leaving the dura mater 

 exposed. With a hypodermic syringe a drop or more of the 

 rabid brain suspension is injected beneath the dura, the perios- 

 teum is replaced, the skin carefully sutured and disinfected 

 and the rabbit returned to its cage. As soon as the influence 

 of the anesthetic* has passed off the rabbit shows no appear- 

 ance of discomfort. If the operation is performed in the fore- 

 noon the animal partakes of its evening meal with the usual 

 relish. The inoculation wound heals rapidly, and the rabbit 

 exhibits every appearance of being in perfect health until the 

 beginning of the specific symptoms, which occur ordinarily in 

 from fifteen to thirty days after the inoculation. Occasionally 

 the symptoms appear earlier than fifteen days and in some 

 cases the rabbits are not attacked for from one to three months. 



The symptoms following the inoculation are quite uni- 

 form. There is, however, a marked difference in the length of 

 time the rabbits live after the initial manifestation of the dis- 

 ease. The fact should be clearly stated that rabbits do not 

 ordinarih' become furious. In some instances thej^ are some- 

 what nervous for a day or two preceding the paralysis. There 

 appears to be marked hyperesthesia. Usually the first indica- 

 tion of the disease it a partial paralysis of one or both hind 

 limbs. This gradually advances until the rabbit is completely 



*Ether should be used in preference to chloroform for rabbits, as 

 the latter frequently causes death, while the former can be administered 

 with comparative safety. 



