526 GENERAL DISEASES. 



by feeding dogs on virulent rabic matter, such as the brain and 

 spinal cord of dogs which had died from rabies, have always failed. 

 A pregnant animal which becomes affected with rabies, can com- 

 municate the disease to its foetus. Nocard and Roux have shown 

 that the saliva of a dog which has been inoculated with rabies, 

 becomes capable of giving the disease, as long as three days before 

 the characteristic symptoms make their appearance. Pasteur has 

 shown that the infectious matter remains virulent for at least a 

 fortnight, even in the dead body after putrefaction has set in. 

 Rabies cannot be produced spontaneously, and, being propagated 

 by inoculation (almost always by a bite), its appearance is inde- 

 pendent of the season of the year. To produce the disease, the 

 virus must come in contact with a wound either in the skin or 

 in the mucous membrane. 



VARIETIES OF RABIES.— Rabies, as indicated in the preceding 

 paragraph, may assume a furious, or a paralytic form. In the latter, 

 the muscles of the jaws, limbs, or hind quarters become paralysed. 

 Symptoms of paralysis usually appear in the last stages of furious 

 rabies. The paralytic form is not uncommon in the horse. 



PERIOD OF INCUBATION is generally from one to two months. 

 In man it seldom exceeds six weeks. 



CHANCES OF RECOVERY, after the symptoms have shown 

 themselves, are practically nil. 



DURATION OF THE ATTACK, from the first commencement of 



the symptoms, is about five days. 



SYMPTOMS. — The first symptom is extreme watchfulness and 

 liability to be startled at the slightest noise or at the sight of any 

 moving object. The temijerature is high and the pulse frequent and 

 strong. The horse becomes seized with paroxysms of excitement, 

 which increase in severity, while the intervals of rest get shorter as 

 the attack continues. There is sometimes more or less paralysis of 

 the hind quarters, and continued spasm (which becomes worse 

 during the paroxysms) of the neck and throat, which renders the 

 animal unable to drink water, although he may try to do so. This 

 inability to drink is by no means a constant symptom; for some 

 rabid horses will drink freely almost up to the last. In some 

 cases, there is a copious discharge of saliva from the mouth 

 and a hoarse cough. It has been frequently noticed that the horse 

 will bite and tear at the spot which was bitten, if it be within reach. 

 The animal becomes more and more excited, until he gets into a 

 state of mad fury, falls down, becomes convulsed or insensible, and 

 dies. The urine of a rabid horse almost always contains sugar. 



