Evening star., 1897-06-11
CANNES That Have Died of the Dis.
ease in Washington.
HUMAN LIVES RARELY LOST BY II
Statistics and Diagnoses of the
Dreaded MaIady.
RABBIT NEGOTIATIONS

Rabies in this city is the subject Of a pa
| per by DR.. Veranus A. Moore and Pierre
A. Fish. a veterinary surgeon. which is
| made part Of the annual report of the
bureau of animal industry, Department Of
| Agriculture. In this report it is stated:
| THE presence of rabies in the city of
| Washington was recognized in the spring
of 1893. Special attention was drawn to
| this subject at that time on account of an
| investigation Of an outbreak of rabies in
cattle, in which it was found desirable to
| make a few comparative inoculations with
| the virus of rabid dogs. This desire was
| made known to DR.. F. L. Kilborne then
director of the experiment station of this
| bureau, and he requested several veternar-
ians in the city of Washington to bring all
dogs suspected of rabies to the experiment
| station. AS result considerable num-
| Der of supposed rabid dogs were brought to
| the station or shot by DIR. Kilborne himself
| from March "A to December H. 1888 From
lhe entire number, eleven were demon
| strated TO be rahid. AS DR. Kilborne made
! the majority of the original inoculations,
| we do not know the exact number from
which negative results were obtained but
| from the notes left at the laboratory 1t is
evident that there were several In De-
cember, 1S92, a negro died of rabies in
Georgetown, and in the following January
| a horse was killed for this disease in
Actual Cases.
'As the Investigations requiring virus
| from rabid dogs were closed in the sum-
mer Of 1893, no further effort was made to
| proc ure cases, and very few were voiun-
| tarily reported. In the fall of 1885, how
| ever, a fatal case in lady was reported
by DIR. Behrend at the Medical Society OF
the District of Columbia. This case again
attracted general attention to the disease,
and arrangements were made by the health
officer of the District of Columbia with the
chief of the bureau of animal industry
whereby all dogs or other animals sus-
pected of having rabies We're to be sent TO
this laboratory for the purpose of making
a positive diagnosis.
From September 81 1895 to August l.
lo96. period of three days more than ten
months, fifteen suspected dogs and two
foxes were received. Unfortunately, three
of the dogs did not arrive until from one to
two days after they had either died or been
killed. and We're consequently decomposed
to such an extent that rabbit inoculations
were precluded. Rabbits inoculated with
the brains of two dogs which We're thought
to be sufficiently fresh to warrant the op-
Grafton died of septcaema within twenty
four hours. Thus in five of the dogs a
diagnosis was rendered impossible. OF the
remaining ten dogs eight, or so per cent,
and the two foxes, Were demonstrated by
the incubation test to have had rabies.
Hard to Detect.
THE diagnosis of rabies in the street dog
is an exceedingly difficult, if not impossible,
task without the aid of the incubation
test The variety of symptoms manifested
by dogs affected with this disease and the
occasional temporary existence of peculiar
actions in healthy animals, especially in the
summer season, formerly led to more
less controversy concerning the specific ma
ture of this disease. However, when the
large number of experiments made by Pas
teur, and repeated by others proceeding
after the same methods, were reported the
distinctive character OF the disease gen.
orally admitted These experiments shov-
ed that if rabbits We're inoculated with a
small quantity of suspension of the brain
or spinal cord OF a rabid dog they would
die in a certain length of time with definite
and characteristic paralytic symptoms,
while rabbits similarly inocuated with
suspension of the brain of healthy animals
would remain well
although the specific agent has not been
isolated or studied in pure culture, the re-
peated incubation experiments have dem
or strated its specific nature and shown
that rabies is transmissible from animal to
animal by means of the bite of the affected
Individual, or by direct inoculation. 1t has
also been found that the saliva of the dog
is virulent for few days before the ami
NAL shows visible symptoms of the disease.
While the accuracy of the diagnosis of
rabies made from the apparent symptoms
may frequently be questioned, when the
diagnosis is based on the results obtained
from animal incubation. it is positive
and reliable any fact in biological or
medical science.
symptoms of Rabies.
"In view of the fact that few physi-
clans have put themselves on record as dis
believers i'll the specific nature of rabies,
and various publications have echoed their
utterances with an air of triumph, it is inn
portant to again call attention to the
methods for diagnosing this disease The
characteristic feature in the argument of
those who wish 10 hold up rabies as de-
lrsion is that they have never seen case,'
or If they have made inoculations they
have ignored the length of time necessary
for the development of the symptoms. and
based their results and condemnatory epi-
thets concerning the method upon the &C
tions of the animals Immediately after the
ir regulation.
This is strikingly illustrated in the ex-
periments made by Spitzka, who attempted
to reproduce symptoms of rabies by intro
ducing nonrabic substances, and who re-
corded the unusual actions of the inocu-
lated dogs during the first few days. but
failed to give the final results. In these
cases partial paralysis was noted within
the first six days, which would indicate
cerebral injury or pressure due to the ef-
fects Of an unsuccessful operation or of the
trritant or septic substances introduced.
AS these experiments were apparently
made to dscountenance the positive results
by the incubation test, it is only necessary
to call attention to the all-important fact
that in Liautard's case. quoted by Spitzka,
the symptoms of rabies in the inoculated
dog began on the sixteenth day and led to
a fatal termination on the nineteenth day,
which is in accordance with the results OBJ
tanned by Pasteur and others, while Spitz-
ka merely recorded the symptoms for the
few days Immediately following the inocu-
lation.
Rabbit InOculatiOns.
There is no evidence more conclusive
than rabbit inoculations, made with aseptic
precautions. from the brain or spinal cord
Of a rabid dog and followed by the different
stages Of paralysis which have developed
after the proper period Of incubation. Un-
til after making these test inoculations, no
one Is justified in asserting with sweeping
denials that the method is false and that