36 THE DISEASES OP THE DOG. 



parts are described as present in this disease, but the 

 correctness of this pathological statement has not been 

 established. In the critical post-mortem examination it 

 must not be forgotten to record absence of any morbid 

 condition which might give rise to symptoms such as 

 could be mistaken for those of rabies, nor to note the 

 state of the tongue and teeth, whether injured or intact, 

 nor the state of the eyes, body in general, and any 

 evidences of severe injury. It is probable that some of 

 the latter have been entered in published accounts of the 

 morbid anatomy of rabies. Siedamgrotzsky (' Bericht 

 iiber d. Veterinarwesen in Sachsen/* 1874) has 

 recorded his special observations of the rare cases in 

 which the eyes undergo morbid changesf in true rabies 

 such as make the case liable to be confounded with dis- 

 temper. These changes are essentially degenerative, 

 such as moderate cell-heaping in the vicinity of the 

 ulcers which form, fatty degeneration of the corneal 

 elements, and opening out of the interstitial substance. 

 The ulcer progresses rapidly, and may lead to complete 

 perforation, and escape of the aqueous humour, or this 

 may be prevented by a thin layer of fibrin or a blood-clot 

 in the anterior chamber. Siedamgrotzsky found these 

 changes in only six cases ; he does not attribute them to 

 injury, but to trophic alterations due to the nervouB 

 lesions of the affection. 



The changes in the central nervous organs detectable 

 by means of the microscope have been variously described 

 by different observers. Coats (' Eoyal Med. and Ohir. 

 Society,' Dec. 11th, 1877) found an aggregation of leuco- 

 cytes around the medium sized vessels of the spinal cord, 

 medulla oblongata, pons Varolii, and corpora quadrigemina, 

 the smallest being in the convolutions. These aggrega- 

 tions are similar to those detectable in the salivary glands 

 and mucous follicles of the larynx. He concludes that 

 the lesions are very like those of tetanus, and that both 



* Vide ' Veterinary Journal,' October, 1876. 



+ Youatt, especially, noted deep-seated ulceration in the eye in some cases 

 of rabieB. 



