Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-22
HYDROPHOBIA.
VI. Pasteur Claims to Have Discovered
an AntidOte for it,

VI. Pasteur Claims to Have Discovered
an AntidOte for it.
NJ. Louis Pasteur, the celebrated French
chemist, says a Paris cablegram to the
Herald OF the 19th claims to have made a
discovery Of the most vital Importance
nothing less, in fact, than a complete cure,
or rather antidote, for hydrophObia. In
an interview with a Figaro correspondent
NJ. Pasteur says:
'CauterizatiOn Of the wound Immediate
" after the bite, IS is well known, has been
more or less effective, but from to-day any
body bitten by a mad dog has only to pre-
sent himself at the laboratory OF the Ecole
Normale and by incubation | will make
him completely insusceptIble to the effects
of hydrophObia, even if bitten subsequent
~ by any number of mad dogs.
Il have been devoting the last four years
to this subject. i found out, in the first
place, that the cirrus rGbique loses its in
tensity by transmission to certain animals
and increases its intensity by transmits
sion to other animals. With the rabbit,
for instance, the UiTUS rGbiQue increases:
with the monkey it decreases. My
method was as fOllOws-I took the virus
direct from the brain of a dog that had
died from acute hydrOphobia. With this
virus inOculateda a monkey. The monkey
died.
''Then with the virus-already weak
ened in intensity-taken from this mon
key. / inOculated a second monkey. Then
with the virus taken from the second
monkey inOculated a third monkey. and
so on until l obtained a virus so weak as
to be almost harmless, Then with this
almost harmless virus | inOculated rab-
bit, the virus beng at once increased in
intensity.
"Then with the virus from the first rab-
bit IinOculated a second rabbit, and there
was another increase in the intensity of
the virus. Then with the virus of the
second rabbit l fnoculated third rabbit,
then a fourth until the virus had regained
its maximum intensity. Thus l obtained
virus of different degrees of power. | then
took a dog and inOculated him. first with
the weakest virus from the rabbit. then
with the virus from the second rabbit and
finally with the rabbit virus of maximum
intensity. After a few daYs more | in
oculated the dog with virus taken directly
from the brain of dog that had just died
of acute madness. The dog upon which l
had experimental proved completely in
susceptible to hydrOphobia. The expert
ment was frequently repeated, always
with the same successful result.
"But my discovery did not end here.
took two dogs and inoculated them both
with virus taken directly from dog that
had just died Of acute hydrophObia. ] let
one Of my two dogs thus inOculated alone,
and he went mad and died of acute hy-
drophObia. 1 subjected the second dog to
my treatment, giving him the three rabbit
inOculations, beginning with the weakest
and ending with the strongest. This
second dog was completely cured, or
rather became completely insuseeptible
to hydrOphObia."
NJ. Pasteur then went to a kennel and
caressed a dog that had undergone this
/ latter operation. "VOy6Zv' said NJ. Pas
! teur, ''cOmme il est bien gentil. Whoever
/ gets bitten by a mad dOg has only to sub
nit to my three little inOculations and he
| need not have the slightest fear of hydro
phObia.N