NEW METHOD FOR APPLYING THE RABIES TEST. 
27 
exclude the possibility of death from other bacterial disease. 
The supposed immunity to rabies on the part of some of the 
lower animals, as well as of man, is not to be lost sight of, and 
for this reason the more rabbits inoculated the better. At least 
three should be used. In one case, in which three rabbits were 
inoculated (not here recorded), only one came down with rabies, 
showing that the chances of making a diagnosis in this particu¬ 
lar case was only one in three as applied to the three rabbits 
used. In this work rabbits are much to be preferred to guinea- 
pigs, not only because they are larger, but because the inocula¬ 
tion disease is more marked, and is extended over a longer 
period in them, giving an opportunity for a more lengthy clini¬ 
cal study. In guinea-pigs we sometimes get typical symptoms. 
They manifest a furious form of the disease, which lasts over a 
sufficiently long period for observation. In other cases guinea- 
pigs may die of rabies, having manifested no particular symp¬ 
toms other than those of illness and emaciation. On this 
account it is manifestly unsafe to risk such an important ques¬ 
tion by the use of guinea-pigs for diagnosis. 
The following is a brief description of the symptoms in most 
of the cases tabulated in this article produced by the inocula¬ 
tion of the “street” virus from seven different cases, according 
to the infra-cerebral method : Generally by the twelfth day after 
inoculation, sometimes a day or so earlier or later, the rabbits 
show a hypersensitive condition, which is most plainly marked 
when the hairs around the nose or along the spine are touched 
lightly. They will try to get away from the spectator, crouch 
together in the far end of the cage, and struggle to get under¬ 
neath each other. At this time the symptoms are of little 
diagnostic value, because other conditions may produce them, 
and a record of them is only useful when they are followed on 
subsequent days by more pronounced symptoms. The hyper¬ 
sensitiveness increases from day to day, and is plainly shown 
when the animals are disturbed. In response to such a stimu¬ 
lus, they will make rapid movements with the hind legs, some¬ 
times throwing the bedding into one’s face in their efforts to 
