RABIES AND HYDROPHOBIA. 
673 
had as many reports of rabies in dogs as were actually found by 
these tests. 
THE DIAGNOSIS OF RABIES. 
The question has been raised as to whether the tests by the 
inoculation of rabbits and guinea pigs on the surface of the 
brain with emulsions of the medullas of suspected animals is a 
reliable indication of the existence of rabies. The editor of one 
of our veterinary journals says : “ Is it not about time to give 
this subject a rest until more real scientific work is done in this 
field of research and some more accurate work completed be¬ 
yond those tests on rabbits and guinea pigs, so lacking in con¬ 
clusiveness to a majority of scientific minds?” 
It certainly must be well known to the writer of that edito¬ 
rial that any doubts as to the reliability of the test by inocu¬ 
lating rabbits and guinea pigs may be very easily dispelled by 
returning to the old method of inoculating large animals in the 
skin or muscular tissue with the saliva or with the brain or 
spinal cord of affected individuals. The experiments recorded 
by Zinke, Count Salm, Berndt, Hertwig and Rev, which are 
quoted above, show with what certainty the saliva of rabid dogs 
produces rabies in dogs and sheep. These experiments have 
been repeated and confirmed by numerous investigators in re¬ 
cent years. It is not necessary to use emulsified medullas to 
obtain positive results ; it is not necessary to inoculate intra- 
cranially ; it is not necessary to use rabbits and guinea pigs. 
This method has simply been adopted for ordinary use because 
of its convenience and because it produces disease in a maxi¬ 
mum number of subjects after a minimum period of incubation. 
The reliability of the method has been abundantly proved and 
the results correspond both with the post-mortem indications 
and with inoculations of larger animals in the skin and muscles. 
Those who habitually use small animals, inoculating subdurally 
with medulla emulsion as a test, and who have from time to 
time confirmed their results by inoculating larger animals by 
various processes, have confidence in this method. Would it 
not be well for those who lack experience to arrange to have 
