724 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
enumerated the various theories as to its causes, the most direct 
one being that of inoculation with the saliva of a rabid animal. 
The different periods of incubation, which he stated might ex¬ 
tend from three days to a year or more, were attributed to the 
quantity of the virus inoculated, also the extent and locality of 
the wound. The symptom of the raving form and the mute or 
paralytic form were carefully described, as was the manner in 
which the animal being at one stage unable to swallow would 
go into convulsions on being given water, which had been the 
cause of this disease being erroneously called hydrophobia. x\s 
regards differential diagnosis between this and certain other dis¬ 
eases with which it might be confounded, he especially pointed 
out the inclination of an animal to bite itself, or any object 
coming across its path, and to swallow, before paralysis of the 
pharynx occurred, stones, chips, and other foreign matter. As 
preventive measures after inoculation, he stated that cauteriza- 
tion or excision of the v/oimd, if performed within a reasonable 
time, had in most cases enabled people to escape, owing to the 
fortunate fact that the virus was very slowly absorbed. The 
wisest course to pursue, however, was at once to go to the nearest 
Pasteur Institute, where a cure and immunity for from three to 
five years could be obtained in ninety-nine per cent, of the cases. 
A vapor bath at a hundred and twenty degrees, for fifteen or 
twenty minutes, was also often successful. This cure was dis¬ 
covered by Dr. Buisson, thirty-five years ago, who, having been 
bitten by a rabid patient and the symptoms being developed in 
himself, resolved to die in a vapor bath, which to his surprise 
completely cured him. In conclusion, he pointed out the folly 
of killing dogs that had bitten people, when the proper course 
should be to keep them quietly in confinement, to notice whether 
symptoms of rabies were developed or not. 
Dr. Martin, in response to a request from the chair, then 
addressed the meeting. He stated that rabies attracted more 
attention in Europe, owing to its greater prevalence there. 
During a visit to Paris he had spent some time at the Pasteur 
Institute and had been much struck with the affectionate man¬ 
ner of the afflicted animals, also their peculiar shrieking bark, 
which was so characteristic that people were able to detect a 
rabid animal by hearing it. It had been proved, he said, that 
the virus traveled along the nervous system, for if a subject 
were inoculated, and the nerve trunk then divided, it would 
often escape. Continuing, he described the method in which 
the virus was prepared for inoculation against the disease, and 
i 
