Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1882-08-10
The Cause OF HydrOph0bia.

And what" said visitor to Pas
tours laboratory, " is the result of the
experiments which you have recently
been making on hydrophobia
off you DESIRE" said NJ. Pasteur,
"we will go down to the cellar where
the animals inoculated with the rage
are, and you can there soon see for your
self"
The visitor descended into the base.
ment in company with M. Pasteur, with
certain uncomfortable sensations in the
calves of his legs, fearing possible en-
counter with some one of the inocuIated
dogs and he found himself in a vast
cellar, into which air and light were
poured through great tunnels. Immense
cages were ranged round the sides Of
this subterranean apartment, and in
each of these cages was dog. Here
were all sorts of CANNES, the bulldog,
the terrier, the spaniel, the poodle, etc.
Over each cage was placard indicating
the day of the incubation of the animal.
Cup to this time" said NJ Pasteur,
81 have been able to discover but
little still, consider it a first
step. Before began my experiments
it was believed that hydrophobia could
be communicated only by the saliva,
and people were frequently astonished
at seeing dogs that had been bitten by
mad dogs remain, sometimes all their
lives, without manifesting any symptoms
of the dreadful malady. have dis
covered the virus of hydrophobia in the
brain of the dog, in the spinal marrow,
and in the whole OF the nervous system
generally. One drop of this virus, pre-
served from contact with the microbes OF
the atmosphere and introduced into the
brain of a healthy dog, invariably
gives him hydrophobia, and he
dies of it within fifteen days.
"L1ok, =" said NJ. Pasteur, "Here is
an animal inoculated with the virus
about ten days ago. Just put your toot
up to his cage" The visitor did so
but with fear and trembling. "You
see, he licks your foot with every man
Hesitation of affection. In two days he
will be dead. He is now in that period
of affectionate manifestation which
generally precedes by two or three
days the period of violence, in which
he will bite anything that comes near
him. Here is another one. Just give
a kick at his cage. See how he springs
at you He will die 70, morrow. Notice
his harsh and curious barking. He is
affected with Authorizations, and no
longer recognizes anybody. He was
inoculated just fourteen days ago, and
he will be dead tomorrow. Men have
the same symptoms, with this exception,
that the duration of what may be called
the incubation is usually thirty or forty
days, and that they have Il horror of
water, a phenomenon which is never
seen in the case of dogs"
"There are five cases on record of
men who have not died after being Bit
ten by mad dogs. That was because
the saliva had been subjected to the
influence of the atmosphere, and that
kind of struggle was going on between
the microbes of the virus and the mi
crobes of the circumambient air. These
latter appear sometimes to neautralize
or modify the effect OF the virus; but
with the virus in the pure state, as l
extract it from the brain of one of my
dogs here, death in q fixed period is
certain, and up to this time we have
found no remedy for this pitiless afflic-
ton.
"Now, I hope, il my life is spared,
that, after many comparisons and exc
periments, shall finally get remedy;
but, before getting to the end of my
researches, must exactly establish the
organic constitution of the microbes Of
this virus, for these invisible beings
differs from each other as man differs
from horse, and horse from an ele-
phant. They are also subject to divers
influences, and that which diminishes
the power OF some augments the ca
pacity of others. This accounts for the
manner in which treated the charbon,
which was staying thousands of sheep
every day before the invention of my
vaccine matter, which is nothing less
than the virus itself reduced. By
exposing the virus to an atmosphere Of
forty degrees during certain time, the
microbes becomes so feeble that when
they were in the body of an animal
they only communicated the very light.
est charbon, and thus forever guaran-
teed the animals against the epidemic"
Paris Letter.