The Washington herald., 1908-06-24
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

one OF rabies; and the point is this-he
died without ever knowing what his
trouble was.
The primary preventive measure against
rabies lies in the muzzling OF dogs. that
tho disease may nos spread and infec.
other members o. the animal kingdom,
and prevention after infection lies in tie
treatment given at Pasteur institutes.
There the disease Is fought and conquered
by inocuiatiOns OF the very virus that Is
posoning the patient. Pasteur, as Du-
mas said years ago. when decorating him
with = great order has taught how
mortal poison may become an innocent
presefvative." L .ook Pasteur many
! years 20 prove this. for & was tho most
dangerous of all his experiments. Where
bacli oe othsr diseases could be culti-
vated in rabbit or chicken broth the
bacil! of raoies had TO be cultivated In
living animals and he and his assistants
worked with wild-eyed, ferocious beasts
until they .ound the prevention and cure
| or tho dread disease. He found that as
| certain animals were inoculated In Sue
| cession with the VIRUS the poison grew
weaker. but tha. after a certain number
| OF inoculai!ons among rabbits the
/ strength % tho poison Increased 10 a cer-
/ tain point and then remained constant
and he could procure a fixed virus
| This virus Is strongest In the spinal
cord Of infected animals. so IN Pasteur
institutes, now located wherever rabies is
/ prevalent the civilized world over, two
rabbits are painlessly inoculated every
| day. and eight days later. when rabies
has developed. are painlessly killed and
| tho spinal cord extracted. This cord Is
hung to dry in 4 bottle that has caustio
potash placed In tho bottom. and from
/ this cord the gray !iquid for iEocuating
| patients is made.
After he had upset the theory OF spon-
taneous life and established the vitality
os ferments, Pasteur turned 20 the study
of rabies. When he proved the truth OF
his work by successful experiments IN
! 1884 he opened a new door Of hope TO the
world. II was in July, 1855, in Paris, that
/ he first tried his powerful virus on human
beings. three peasants having come ALL
| the way from Alsace 10 ask that the eX-
perinients he had made on the twenty
/ dogs the year before be made on one OF
their number. who had been bitten. This
was q success. and In less than year he
| n0Q successfully treated 6hS cases. and
had changed the death rate from rabies in
/ Paris from one in six 10 one In 10.
At Pasteur's Paris institutions about
1900 patents have been treated since
then, many from all parts OF the world,
| Including Russian peasants suffering from
the most malignant forms. that given by
mad wolves. New York had the first
Pasteur institute in America, opening II
early In 1880. Chicago opened one in July
of that year. Since then others have been
established in Baltimore. Richmond. At
lanta, Pittsburg, Ann Arbor. st. Paul.
! New Orleans. ST. Louis, and Houston,
and the percentage of mortality among
the patients IN these-bOth humans and
Animals-has been eratifyingly small.
Vixen the popular fallacy In regard 10 the
good Of a maidstone has been exploded
| everywhere. when legislation can control
the spread Of rabies through the licensing
and muzzing of dogs. and when other
superstitions that have existed since the
days Of Pliny and EUripdes have been
| eradicated by the sanity OF modern
science, the dread OF "a horrible death will
disappear among mankind. and a saving
in livestock bills IS we'll, be credited 20
the enlightenment Of the nation.
Copyright. 1903. by Frederic J. Haskin)