No. 4.] REPORT OF CATTLE BUREAU. 231 



Dui'ing the earlier part of the year there was a great deal 

 of rabies in the western counties of the State ; while it has 

 sul3sided somewhat there, later it has prevailed in other 

 localities. There was quite an outbreak in Bristol County 

 in the autumn, and last sunnner there was a small outbreak in 

 Dukes County, caused by a dog taken to Cottage City by a 

 sunmier resident, who took the dog there from Milton. 



At present the chief centers of infection seem to be the 

 Merrimac valley, Boston and the siu'rounding cities and 

 towns, and a group of towns comprising Brockton, Whit- 

 man, Easton, Taunton and Bridgewater. 



One difficulty in managing ral)ies is due to the varying 

 period of its incubacy, as a dog may develop rabies in two 

 or three weeks after being bitten, or it may go four or five 

 months before showing symptoms. Three cases have oc- 

 curred during the past year where dogs have gone from four 

 to live months before showing symptoms ; all of them were 

 in quarantine for ninety days from the time of l)eing bitten, 

 and then released as safe, to develop symptoms later, and in 

 one case to do a great deal of mischief before Ijeing killed. 

 It may be necessary in future to make the period for holding 

 dogs in quarantine longer. Where a dog is bitten by another 

 dog known to have rabies, it is erring on the side of safety 

 to have it immediately killed, and this is the wisest course 

 to pursue to protect the health of the community. 



Rabies is unknown in Australia, because every dog brought 

 there is held in quarantine until it is safe to allow it to run 

 at large ; it has been stamped out in England, and is kept 

 out by rigid quarantine laws. 



It can be eradicated and controlled in any community, 

 when the people wake up to the necessity for doing so. 

 Unfortunately, Massachusetts is not an island, and when it 

 is eradicated it can be reintroduced at any time by dogs from 

 adjoining States. This in a measure may be safeguarded 

 against by forbidding any person or transportation company 

 bringing a dog into the State without a permit from the 

 Chief of the Cattle Bureau, and having dogs held in quaran- 

 tine for six months after arrival. 



During the past year arrangements have been made for 



