158 ' THEORY AND PRACTICE 



5 feet deep. Otherwise the earth worms will bring the germs 

 to the surface and infect the animals grazing near by. 



Treatment. — If the case is the first one diagnosed, then treat 

 the fever and when the animal dies, as he surely will, hold a post 

 mortem. If the post mortem confirms the diagnosis, then quar- 

 antine against the source of infection. No medical treatment will 

 touch anthrax. You can vaccinate, however. Get the printed 

 directions which come with the virus and follow them carefully. 

 Make sure of your diagnosis before saying anything. Inoculate 

 laboratory animals, and if they die examine their blood micro- 

 scopically. If it is anthrax you will find the bacilli in large 

 numbers. The fat around the kidneys is the same as in Texas 

 fever. The blood of anthrax is not like that of any other disease , 

 it is like tar 



RABIES. 



The name rabies is derived from the Latin rabere, to rave. 

 In the human subject it is called hydrophobia. This word means 

 dread of water, but the disease is the same as in any other ani- 

 mal. Water sets the human patient into paroxysms, but so would 

 anything else. Rabies is a peculiar contagious disease. It pre- 

 sents its symptoms through the nervous system in the form of 

 paroxysms which are invariably fatal. All warm blooded ani- 

 mals are subject to it. The virus seems to live in the saliva, but 

 an emulsion of brain or spinal cord of a rabid animal will produce 

 the disease when inoculated into another animal. Other parts, 

 such as the blood, feces, etc., when inoculated, give negative re- 

 sults. The rabid virus may be absorbed through a wound. It is 

 usually easy to trace the origin of the disease. We regard the 

 history of every case important. 



Etiology. — It was formerly supposed that dogs go mad by 

 reason of a spontaneous development of certain conditions, such 

 as deprivation of water, confinement, ungratified passion, etc., 

 but recent investigations show that rabies may occur in any dog 

 and in any place, the one thing needful being a bite from a rabid 

 animal. Bites around the head are much more dangerous than 

 when located in other places. Pasteur states that only one out 



