Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-11-06

l LeuE experiments hoNS ANoHAeSN "a 9
most brilliant success. At perhaps the
most important sitting held by the
Academy Of Science DR.. Pasteur thus
described the process Of cure by a rab-
bit inoculated with the fragment Of a
tissue taken from the spine Of a rabid
dog. The incubation of the poison
occupied fifteen days. AS soon as the
first rabbit inoculated was dead a por-
ton from its spinal marrow was in
turn ~inoculated into a second rabbit,
and so on until sixty rabbits had been
inoculated. At each successive inocu-
lation the virus increased in potency,
and the last period of incubation did
not occupy more than seven days.
Having ~ascertained that exposure to
dried air diminished the virus, and con-
s%equently reduced its force, DR.. Pas.
teur supplied himself with a series of
bottles Of dried air. In these bottles
he placed portions of inoculated spinal
marrow at successive dates, the oldest
being the least ~virulent and the latest
K the most so.
For an operation DR.. Pasteur begins
by inoculating his subject with the
oldest tissue, and finishes by the iDjec-
ton of a piece of tissue whose bottllng
dates back only two days, and whose
period of incubation would not exceed
one week. The subject is then found
to be absolutely proof against the dis
ease. A boy twelve years of age,
named Meister, who had been bitten
fourteen times. came from Alsace with
his mother to see DR.. Pasteur. The
autopsy of the dog which had bitten
the Doy left no doubt as to its having
suffered from hydrophobia. DR.. Pas
teur took the celebrated DIR. Vulpian
and a professor of a school of medi-
cine to see the boy Meister. These two
doctors came to the conclusion that the
boy was doomed to a painful death
and might be experimental upon.
In thirteen days NEGOTIATIONS were
made upon Meister with pieces of spi-
nal marrow containing virus of con
stantly increasing strength, the last
being from the spine of a rabbit that
died only the day before. Now a hun
bred days have passed since Meister
underwent the last inocculation. The
treatment has been thoroughly sue
c~essful, and the boy is in perfect health.
He had been bitten sixty hours and
had travelled from Alsace to Paris be.
fore the first incubation was perform.
ed. A shepherd boy named Judith.
aged fifteen, was bitten by a mad dog
a fortnight ago, and has now been a
week under treatment. DR.. Pasteur
is confident of curing him. DR.. Past
~ said that it was now necessary to
provide an establishment where rabbits
might always be kept inoculated with
the disease. In this way a constant
supply Of spinal tissues of old and re.
cent incubation would always be
ready.
Before the sitting was adjourned
DR.. Pasteur received an enthusiastic
ovation, both from the Academy itseli
and the public who were present.
Among those present 1 noticed the
Grand Duke Alexis, who is a great dog
fancier, and M. De Lesseps, who went
to hear DR.. Pasteur's report Endorsed
by DR.. Vulpian. One of the leading
doctors present remarked that the
question was whether a man cured of
hydrophobia could suffer from a
second bite. In other words, whether
the incubation of virus was a guaran-
tee against hydrophobia.
In answer, DR.. Pasteur states that
the malady is transmissible only by
bite. If, therefore, by a general COM
pulsory incubation of dogs for several
generations, dogs had been made inca
pable of hydrophobia, the malady
would have disappeared and there
would be no occasion to ask whether
incubation had a permanent effect
or not. AS to the origin Of hydrophobia.
DR., Pasteur says nobody in the world
can explain its primal cause. AS he re-
marked-perhaps out of politeness-
his theory will require study by the
profession in order to make it practi-
cal, but he emphstically stated that
the cure for hydrophobia had been
found.