460 
ANIMAL PATHOLOGY. 
ened to lead to a disinclination to have recourse to the far surer 
preventives, the knife or the caustic. In some persons, aware of 
the experiments which I was pursuing, and anxious to add the 
lesser efficacy of the drench to the more powerful one of the caustic, 
there began, after awhile, to arise a distrust of both. A state of 
nervous irritability likewise occasionally ensued, the possible 
consequences of which I dreaded to consider. I knew how much 
depended on the mind. I knew the importance of inspiring the 
patient with perfect confidence, and banishing from the memory, 
as much as possible, the record of that which had passed. The 
daily drenching precluded this; and I feared what dreadful 
power an irritated and unhinged mind might give to the 
minutest particle of the poison that might perchance lurk in 
the wound. 
And now, gentlemen, I approach, and with diffidence and re¬ 
luctance, the last and the most important division of our inquiry, 
the treatment of rabies luhen it is nnequivocally developed. In 
the great majority of cases prudence and humanity will dictate 
the immediate destruction of the animal. There are but two 
motives that will justify any delay. If mischief has been done— 
if a human being or any valuable animals have been bitten, and 
it has become necessary to have recourse to painful preventive 
measures, it may, for the sake of the practitioner and of the pa¬ 
tient, be advisable to commit the dog to close and safe confine¬ 
ment, in order that the appearances after death, corresponding with 
the symptoms during life, may justify these precautionary means. 
The reputation of the practitioner and the satisfaction of the 
patient may demand this. 
The human or the veterinary surgeon may also be justified in 
delaying the destruction of the animal in order to experiment on 
the effect of certain medicines or operations. This is a noble but 
a fearful object. Ever would his memory be revered who disco¬ 
vered a cure for rabies ; but his laurels would be won at extreme 
hazard, and the most perfect self-devotion to the cause of science 
and humanity could alone induce him to pursue his dangerous 
path. Having now retired altogether from veterinary practice, I 
may be permitted to say, that the countenance of the government 
of the country might be given to many less worthy objects than 
the attempted discovery of a cure for rabies. I do not think 
that there would be much difficulty in discovering the man who 
would honestly devote himself to such a pursuit, and, perhaps, I 
have him in my mind’s eye. 
The true nature of rabies has been sufficiently established in 
the course of our inquiries. If is a state of excessive nervous 
irritation, commencing with the motor nerves of organic life. 
