514 H YDR OPHOBIA . 



Methods (a) Diagnosis. When a person is bitten by 

 an animal suspected to be rabid, the latter must under no 

 circumstances be killed. Much more can be learned by 

 watching it while alive than by post-mortem examination. 

 In the latter case only such things as the occurrence of 

 broken teeth, marked congestion of the fauces, or the 

 presence of unwonted material in the stomach throw any 

 light on the condition ; nothing of a positive nature can be 

 learned from examining the nervous system. On the other 

 hand, in the living animal the development of the character- 

 istic symptoms can be watched, and death will occur in not 

 more than 5 days. If the suspected animal has been 

 killed, then a small piece of its medulla or cord must be 

 taken, with all aseptic precautions, rubbed up in a little 

 sterile .75 per cent sodium chloride solution, and injected 

 by means of a syringe beneath the dura mater of a rabbit, 

 the latter having been trephined over the cerebrum by 

 means of the small trephine which is made for the purpose. 

 Symptoms usually occur in 8 to 12 days, though some- 

 times not for three weeks, and death a day or two later. 

 When such inoculation has to be practised it is evident 

 that the diagnosis is delayed. When the material for 

 inoculation has to be sent any distance this is best effected 

 by packing the head of the animal in ice. The virulence 

 of organs is not lost, however, if they are simply placed in 

 sterile water or glycerine in well-stoppered bottles. 



(b) Treatment. Every wound inflicted by a rabid animal 

 ought to be cauterised with the actual cautery as soon as 

 possible. By such treatment the incubation period will at 

 any rate be lengthened, and therefore there will be better 

 opportunity for the Pasteur inoculation method being 

 efficacious. The person ought then to be sent to the 

 nearest Pasteur Institute for treatment. It is of great 

 importance that in such a case the nervous system of the 

 animal should also be sent, in order that the diagnosis 

 may be certainly verified. 



