The Press., 1888-06-28
PROF. SPITzKA ON RABIES.
FEAR OF HYDRoPHoBlA KILLS MORE
 PERSONS THAN THE DISEASE.

A Question Over Which Doctors Have Long Disagreed-A FallaciOus Method of Demonstrating Rabies-Details of an Experiment-The Results.
 In the spring of 1886 Miss Morosini, daughter of Jay Gould's associate, was bitten by pet dog, which was promptly killed. An autopsy was made by Dr. A. F. Liautard, 8 veterinary surgeon of this city, who found ''one large bird feather' in the stomach The presence of inedible substances in the dogs stomach was formally accepted as almost indisputable proof that the animal was mad, but Professor Spitzka says he has examined scores of dogs, and he gives the following as the result of such examinations:
 ''Not one of the animals showed any signs of rabies There was scarcely one, and cer- tainly not one young dog, in whose stomach did not find more or less foreign material. I remember that kite strings and top pegs were frequent; that coal, ashes straw, feathz- CTS and cotton spools were occasional find ings. Shoe leather, pieces of cloth and, if remember rightly, a pocket knife, but cer tainly some unusual article of metal, in pet dog" Yet this dog was pronounced mad, and the case was deemed by her family physician
  the young lady to Paris for treatment by Pasteur. Meanwhile the brain of the butch cred dog was prese1s7ed and healthy dog was inoculated on the brain with particle of it. At the end of sixteen days this dog was pronounced mad, it having showed the first symptoms of dumb rabies-that is, pa ralysis of the lower jaw. The mouth was was slightly open, the jaw hung down, and abundant saliva flowed from the mouth. Still the dog was very affectionate This is not a quotation from Professor Spitzka, but from the chronicler of the case. This was, of course, accepted as confirmatory evidence that the dog which bit Miss Morosini was mad. Fortunately, however, for that young lady, she had sufficient strength of mind, or enough confidence in Pasteur's treatment, to render her proof against an attack of hy- drophobia. Concerning this case Professor Spitzka says:
 "The method of demonstrating rabies by direct inoculation of the brain is fallacious The conclusion drawn by Liautard, from an experiment. thus performed, that the River dale dog was mad was obtained by mislead- ing methods. With regard to the dumb rabies which Dr. Liautard thought he had produced in the second dog, every physician familiar with the researches of Schiff, Flourens, Hitzig, Fritsch and Goltz will rec ognize in it the ordinary results of expert mental and infiammatory disturbance of the brain functions in the dog. According as the irritating injection affects one certical field or the other the paralysis will vary, but paraplegia is quite characteristic of menin- gitis and encephalitis in the dog"
 In plain language, the inflammation of the brain set up by the placing of foreign sub stance under the skull and in contact with the brain matter is sufficient to account for
 
 mented on and commonly pronounced those of genuine rabies. This was eventually proved quite satisfactorily by Professor SpitZka and his associates. They obtained a number of healthy dogs and inoculated their brains with various substances, such as a particle of the spinal cord of a healthy calf, an emulsion of calf's cord, an emulsion from the brain of man who was supposed to have died of hydrophobia, piece of common yellow soap and stale uremic liquid. The effects of the inoculations with these various substances were substantially the same as that of the virus from the supposed mad dog which bit Miss Morosini. In fact Professor Spitzka says there were no symptoms of hydrophobia related of Dr. Liautard's ami nal which were not present in these dogs. He was inclined to pronounce the mental dis turbances resembling dumb rabies, so called, much greater than the animals he experi- mented on.
 These dogs were confined in the veterinary infirmary of Atcheson & Hamill on Four teenth street, near Avenue A, and some of them may still be seen there. A mongrel bulldog, inoculated with healthy calf's cord, manifested on the third day slight droop of the left upper eye lid, the eyes appeared dull, there was manifest paralysis of the hind legs, the tail sometimes fell between them the dis oVoon7inor1v frio11T1xy ho his tail feebly, crawled forward and fawned as soon as the door was opened. On the seventh day he manifested desire to devour foreign substances. On the eighth day, al- though his disposition toward the experi- mentalists was unchanged, he quarreled with another dog over food. On the eleventh day the paraplegic gait was very marked. The dog seemed to be acting impulsively at times; attempted to swallow a dry drum stick of a fowl, and would have eaten other foreign substances if not prevented. A mon grel Spitz, which had been noted as rather an aggressive animal before the operation, became, in three days, entirely changed fawned, wagged it's tail, and chung to any one who would give it a friendly word. On the eleventh day the paraplegia was more marked, the animal was unable to jump down distance of two feet, but let itself down on its fore feet and then slid down the rest of its body. At the same time 1t had be- come shy, avoided visitors, crouched and concealed itself.
 Here is the seventh days record of large cur inoculated with twenty drops of an emul- sion of calf's cord:
 ''The animal is very stupid, runs against objects, does not avoid obstacles and exhibits decided manege movements, running in cir cles to the right On being reused, when lying down, which is the animals usual position, it rolls over and frequently slips with its hind legs, which tremble great deal. At night this dog howls a great deal and growls at people entering the court at all times. There is a question as to whether it is able to see well; but owing to it's stupid lty, it is difficult to settle this point satisfac- torily."
 A large dog inoculated with a piece of common yellow soap showed on the seventh day the dropping jaw, and its tongue often protruded between the teeth. It ran around aimlessly, and arriving at a running hydrant stood still as if pensive, but did not drink. The animal inoculated with uremic iquid died on the seventh day of blood poisoning. Parts of the brain and spinal cord were found reduced to pus. The rest of the dogs recov- ereda and some were subsequently, exhibited by Professor Spitzka before the Society of Medical Jurisprudence and State Medicine.
 A Leap Year Problem.