The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1891-09-12
PROF. SPlTZKA ON RABIES.
FEAR OF AYoRoPHoslA KILLS MORE
PERSONS THAN THE DISEASE.


ENpcrimrnt-rhc Results.
In the spring Of lSSd Miss MoroSini, a
daughter OF Jay GouldE associate, was bitten
by pet dog, which was promptly killed An
autopsy was made 10y DR. A, r. Liautard, n
veterinary surgeon of this city, who found
zone large bird feather in the stomach Tho
presence OF iuedihlo substances in the dogs
stomach was formally accepted rs almost
indiSputahle proof that the animal was mad,
but Professor Spltzka says he has examined
scores of dogs, and he gives the following rs
the result ot such examinations;
Not one of the animals showed any signs
OF rabies. There was scarcely one, and GER
tainly not one younH dog, in whose stomach
| did not find morc or loSS foreign material
| remember that kite strings aud top pegs
were frequent, that coal, ashes, straw, fcath
erS and cotton SpoolS We're occasional find
ingS Shoe leather, pieces of cloth and, II |
remember rightly, n pocket knife, hut GER
talnly some unusual article Of metal, IN u
pet dog
Yet this dog was pronounced mad, and tho
case was deemed 10y her family physician
sufficiently grave to warrant the sending OF
AAAt NNhlAk ldNiN w ~ ~ AhA NANAtAAAtAN hl
PaSteur. Meanwhile the brain OF the butch
cred dog was pr served and u healthy dog
was inocalated ON the brain with II particle
of it. At the end OF sixteen days this dog
was pronounced mad, 1t 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 atfeCtionate. This is
not a quotation from Professor Sptzka, but
from the chroncer of the case. This was,
of course, accspted as contirmatory 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 Pasteurs treatment, 10
render her proof against an attack of hy-
drOphobia. Concerning this case Professor
Spit2ka SAYS;
"The method OF demonstrating rabies by
direct incubation 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 SchiH,
Flourens, Hitzig, FritSch and Goltz will rec
ognize in it the ordinary results of expert
mental and intlammatory disturbance of the
brain functions in the dog. According as
the irritating injection affects one certlcal
field or the other the paralysis will vary, but
paraplegia is quite characteristic Of menin-
gifts 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
all the symptoms displayed by dogs expert
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 moculated their
brains with various substances, such as a
particle of the spinal cord Of healthy calf,
an emulsion of calls cord, an emulsion from
the brain of man who was supposed TO
have died Of hydrophoba a 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 expert
mented on.
These dogs were confined in the veterinary
infrmary of Atcheson & Hamll, on Four
A A md %
them may still be seen there mongrel
bulldog, inoculated with healthy calf's cord,
manifested on the third day a 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
position was exceedingly friendly, he wagged
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 expert
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 lmpulsvely at
times; attempted to swallow a dry drum
stick of 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 its tail, and chung to any
one who would give it 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 it 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'5 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 question as to whether
it is able to see well; but owing to its stupid
ity, it is difficult to settle this point satisfac-
torily."
large dog inoculated with piece of
common yellow soap showed on the seventh
day the dropping jaw, and its tongue often
protruded between the teeth. 1t ran around
1 1.