Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-03-13

hours OF labor for contract work. Col. Casey
followed the example Of the navy yards in the
prosecution of the work in his charge, both on
the Washington monument and on the new
ten for six months in the summer and eight for
the winter. When the eight-hour law was
adopted in the navy yards he adoptedit for his
work.
DEFYING HYDROPHOBIA.
The Experience OF Washington Doctor
in PasteuF's Laboratory.
DIR. Dudley Morgan, OF this city, writing from
Paris to q friend here says:
~ was led from my daily routine of hospital
| clinics to the laboratory of Mr.. Pasteur prin-
cipally by the desire to see how some of my
fellow countrymen were faring under the treat
ment of the well known savant This one
visit served only to give me an idea of his
treatment and to kindle q desire to become
more familiarized with what then seemed mere
speculation. 1t is only after many visits that
one can claim a knowledge Of the subject and
the short description which follows may clear
up some hitherto obscure points
Near the normal school In the "Quartier
Latin" In building one story in height, is the
laboratory OF Mr.. Pasteur. You enter by a
large iron gate and at the far end of the ward
your attention is naturally attracted by the nu-
merous faces at the windows, and the air OF
the room. Coming soon to the door which
opened directly into the waiting room OF Mr..
Pasteur, sent In my card and was very soon
was conducting the inoculations. The waiting
room, which l had just lett, was packed to
9Xsrcrowdi1 3 with Nth all kinds Of humanity
the young, the native and foreign, all waiting
THEIR DAILY EJACULATION.
When entered the private room was at
once surprised to hear several of the inmates
| speaking very e1citedly in English. The dis
cussion seemed to be between q veterinary
surgeon from a southern state, who told me
he had been bitten by q dog and 1.-The peo-
pe hea hus Whsre h@ OFF To- Paris he
day, since be had been bitten, was much afraid
would inoculate him with the strongest virus.
Mr.. Pasteur is about five feet seven or eight
inches sasN in height, with hair as yet somewhat
his walk Is distinctly observable paralysis,
from the effects of an hemiphlegic stroke some
years ago. The NEGOTIATIONS are carried Oh by
DR.. Graucher, OF the "Ecole de Medicine"
under the direct supervision of Mr.. Pasteur.
Each patient as he enters is questioned as to
his general health, and his record as to the
number of NEGOTIATIONS he has received is
examined. The hypordemic syringe is then
which there are a number containing different
strengths, a syringeful is drawn up and injected
under the skin OF The patient, generally over the
epigastrium. To gain some idea oftb preparation
of this fluid and how, from simple experiments
on the inferior animals, Mr.. Pasteur was led to
believe that he had discovered prophylactic
against hydrophobia, you should revert to his
researches as far back as 1882, when he OBJ
tanned in small receptacle some of the saliva
OF a rabid dog. This saliva he injected into a
rabbit, aud ia the course of few weeks
the rabbit died. He took part of the
spinal marrow OF this rabbit, dissolved
it in sterilised bouillon and trepanning the
skull of another rabbit injected the prepared
fluid beneath the dura mater or outer mem
brane OF the brain. In this second rabbit all
the symptoms of hydrophObia appeared with
greater viruence and in much less time than
in the case of the first rabbit the animal dying
With part Of the spinal marrow OF the second
rabbit he followed the same method with a
virus, which had become more virulent by sue
cessive NEGOTIATIONS and which would kill
rabbit In seven days or drive the strongest OF US
RAvING MAD WITHIN WEEK.
From the spinal cord of this last rabbit, he
| takes small bits of marrow and suspends them
in little fasks in which the air is kept perfectly
dry by caustic potash. The atmosphere of these
TASKS, which is dry aud kept at q constant tenn
perature, has a weakening effect upon the virus
| and. in proportion to the number of days, the
portions OF marrow are allowed to remain ex-
| posed In the TASKS. accordingly do they become
| less virulent- When Mr.. Pasteur wishes to in
oculate a patient, he makes a small section of
the marrow suspended in the different fiasks
| taking always the marrow which has been ex-
posed to the dry air for the longest time, which
is to say twelve to fifteen days. and, mixing it
with broth enough for one syringe full, gives
the patient his initial incubation On the ap-
| pearance Of the same patient the next day he
|
| virus one day younger, and so little stronger.
AT the end Of ten to twelve days the
patient receives with impunity the incubation
OF the strongest virus, or that which Ii he had
| received ON his first appearance would have
with more certainty given him hydrophoba
ual and slow process that Mr. Pasteur accus-
toms the system to receive harmlessly the n.y.
pOrdermic injections OF the strongest virus or
| the bite OF the most rabid animal.
| The boutllon broth of which have spoken is
made in the usual way, only the great precau-
| hitting it TO q high degree OF temperature for
some twenty minutes and then removing the
| TASKS which contain the bouillon and are her.
metically sealed to an oven, where the temper
AZURE Is continued, but at "a much less degree
| Here they are kept until decanted for the gem
eral use Of dissOlvipg the marrow, which is then
| injected by means Of "a hypordermic syringe
| into the tissues OF the abdomen.
In the basement are several rooms where all
his experimenting and preparations of the virus
are made. The first room is
FILLED WITH SMALL CAGES,
from two and a half to three feet square, in
which are kept the animals intended for the
experiments, and from which are obtained the
virus for inoculating. The rabbit seems to be
the favOrite, for, by experimentation, it has
proven more susceptible TO the poison the
| symptoms manifesting themselves much
| sooner than in any other animal. The adtoln-
ing rooms contain his various chemical APP
paratus, the Theoretically sealed flask exposed
to a fixed temperature, the Walls with the sus-
pended marrow, modified Papin's digester
curing the marrow.
AT present the number Of patients under the
care of Mr.. Pasteur is hardly above thirty and
OF the 800 SO tar treated, all, with exception Of
one, whose delay in appearing was too much
prolonged, and In whom the symptoms had
already appeared, have been radically pre-
served from the disease. In attaining this end,
Mr.. Pasteur rids the universe OF one of the
beia man, and nos e aeHtns aoe whiS ae
render us proof against hydroPhobia, but
| continuer OF the disease, the dog. BY the
| same method of treatment that of inocu-
lating the animal with the weakest to the
strongest virus he protects him not only from
all resulting danger from the bite of rabid ami
mails, but renders powerless the action OF the
virus OF hydrophObia, even II brought within
immediate contact with the brain.
Like all great discoveries the methods of pro-
cedure are extremely simple, and we can but
hope that his demonstrations, which at present
writing, seem conclusive, win very soon be
adopted by the whole world as the only ra-
tional means OF preventing hydrophobia."
THE AMERICAN SPHINX.
Pilot Knob, North Car0llna-A Wonder.