376 



Hydrophobia, Lyssa, or Rabies 



it is emulsified with 3 cc. of sterile 0.8 per cent, salt solution and is 

 ready for use. There can be no absolute accuracy of dosage. The 

 injection material made in the laboratory under strict aseptic pre- 

 cautions can be used with perfect safety for many hours subsequently 

 if kept cold, and can be packed in ice and sent by express to the phy- 

 sician to use at the home of his patients. 



Fig. 139. — Method of drying the spinal cord of a rabbit for the purpose of 

 attenuation (Stimson, Bull. No. 65, Hygienic Laboratory). 



As the transfer of the cord to glycerin preserves the virulence for 

 some time at whatever degree it had when so transferred, it is now 

 customary to keep on hand, in glycerin, in the laboratory, spinal 

 cords of rabbits dried one, two, three, four days, and so on through 

 the whole series, always available for furnishing vaccines of all re- 

 quired strengths, independently of new experimental rabbits, and 

 also makes it possible for one rabbit cord to furnish material for 

 several cases. The treatment of a patient bitten by a rabid 

 animal, and in danger of acquiring rabies, requires numerous injec- 

 tions with material of varying virulence, as shown in the following 

 tabulations : 



