482 RABIES 



first between the nerve cell and its capsule. These changes are quite 

 uniform through the entire ganglion and in advanced cases of the dis- 

 ease nearly all of the nerve cells are often times destroyed. 



Robineaux examined 37 cases that died of rabies with positive re- 

 sults. In animals killed during the course of the disease the results 

 varied. In 40 such cases, he found the lesions in 1 1 and the}- were 

 absent in 29. The rapidity with which ganglionic changes appear seems 

 to vary greatly in different individuals. 



The fact must be kept in mind that this is a method for rapid diag- 

 nosis in case the animal dies and not a means for an early diagnosis. 



Diagnosis from the presence of Negri bodies. The presence 

 or absence of Negri's bodies is used as a means of diagnosis in 

 most if not all laboratories. These bodies, which are often 

 quite large, are readily brought out by proper staining. These 

 bodies, whether the cause or specific degenerations, appear to 

 be of much value in making a rapid diagnosis. Unlike the 

 ganglion changes they appear early in the course of the dis- 

 ease, and consequently they are of value in making an early 

 diagnosis when the animal is killed soon after the appearance 

 of the first symptoms. Thus far these bodies, or those easily 

 mistaken for them, have not been found in the brains of ani- 

 mals dying from other diseases except one report of their 

 possible presence in a case of tetanus. 



Bohne uses for diagnosis of rabies a piece V^-Yx mm. 

 thick from the Ammons horn which after 30-40 minutes of 

 fixing and hardening in aceton for 60-75 minutes he puts it in 

 paraffin. In this way it is possible for them by the aid of a 

 short staining after the Mann method to get stained sections 

 in the course of three hours. 



In his 170 investigations (157 dogs, 6 cows, 4 people. 3 

 cats) he found the later discoveries of Negri and Volpino con- 

 firmed according to the presence of the Negri bodies and their 

 finer structure. 



Besides he investigated 50 dogs attacked with other dis- 

 eases without finding Negri bodies or similar forms. He 

 therefore holds the Negri bodies as specific for rabies and the 

 diagnosis as assured by a positive find. Their parasitic nature 

 seems to him for the present still doubtful. 



