462 
FRANK S. BILLINGS. 
Mr. Vance imformed me that since Aug. 28th. six more cattl 
had died, at considerable intervals between each other, all presen! 
ing the same symptoms, and that he had one penned lip in hi 
scale-pen that had been ill since day before yesterday, that ex 
hibited the same symptoms as the others. An account of this ani 
mal will soon follow. Before entering upon a consideration of nr 
personal observations and the autopsies which I made, I wish t 
call attention to one fact in connection with the above cases whici 
made one very skeptical as to the rabies theory, and yet I eouh 
not find a single moment upon which to fasten any etiologica 
hypothesis other than that. 
This was the fact, that so many animals should die so nearh 
together with such short intervals between the deaths , and as ca; 
be seen, in one case three died on the same day , and that thirtee, 
should have died within thirty-eight days from the time they wer 
seen to have been worried by the dog. From some very casual of 
servations of the literature at my command, I have made a list o 
some 400 reported cases of rabies in cattle, the average pericn 
incubation of which was forty-four days; the shortest, onl; 
one case of nineteen days. I could scarcely make it conformal)! 
to our knowledge of this disease, that as many animals shouh 
die in such a short period after being ostensibly bitten, and tha 
the intervals between the deaths should be so short; so that I re 
ported to the farmers, “ that as there was no other moment upoi 
which we could place any etiological support , 1 thought they wer 
right in adhering to their rabies theory , but that for the joresent . 
must say that I woidd not come to any positive determination .* 
This report was made Aug. 28th; my conclusion that tin 
disease must be rabies was made on Nov. 5th, for the following 
reasons: 
1 st.—Those that have died since, have presented exactly th» 
same symptoms and they correspond in every iota to those laic 
down in the books for rabies in bovines. 
2nd.—The intervals between the deaths had become greate; 
and more extended from the time the dog was reported to have 
worried the cattle. 
3d.—No other cattle from adjoining pastures had died since 
