BABIES. 237 



R . — Ferri et quininse citras 12.0 



Elixir simplex 96.0 



S. — One teaspoonful three times daily. 



If the diarrhoea is severe, give 



ij. — Bismuth subgallate 0.75 



F. charta No. xii. S. — One powder three times daily.] 



Rabies. 

 {Hydrophobia.) 



This is an acute disease of the entire nervous system caused by 

 a specific poison, and distinguished by a variable period of incu- 

 bation, as well as by an absence of any marked anatomical alter- 

 ation. 



Etiology. Rabies is a true infectious disease, and never occurs 

 spontaneously, but is only transmitted by direct infection through 

 the bite of affected animals. This disease, as a rule, is confined 

 to the canine race (dog, wolf, fox, hyena, and prairie dog). It is 

 seen in rare instances in the cat, horse, cattle, sheep, goat, deer, 

 guinea-pig, rabbit, rat, mouse, chicken, pigeon, and in man. The 

 dog is the animal that contracts the disease quicker than any other. 

 Country, climate, care, nursing, age, and sex do not seem to have 

 any influence upon it. The disease is more frequently seen in 

 central Europe and the New England and Middle States than 

 anywhere else. This may be accounted for by the fact that dogs 

 in larger numbers run at large, and also to the fact that the 

 owners do not conform to the rules of the sanitary police. Rabies 

 seems to be influenced, to a certain extent, by the seasons of the 

 year, as cases are more frequently seen in the spring and summer 

 than in the fall and winter. The poison of rabies is as yet 

 unknown, or at least it has not been definitely described. It is 

 reproduced in the body of the animal only; never outside of it. 

 It is mixed with blood, saliva in the salivary glands, and in the 

 secretions of the lachrymal glands. It is also said to occur in the 

 mammary glands. From direct inoculations, this disease appears 

 in its most concentrated form in the brain and spine. 



This poison is virulent in the spine aud brain during the incu- 

 bative period, and retains its full strength for several days after the 

 death of the affected animal. Pasteur has demonstrated that a 



