The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-17

trol the disease effectively by exterminat- ing it among oogs are most likely to prove successful. There Is no communicable disease which is more easily prevented or eradicated than rabies. Since the in | lection is practically always transmitted | by a bite, and since the animal which does the biting is almost always dog all sanitary measures must be directed I to the control of these animals for sui | fcient time to cover the incubation period | of the disease. It seems inexcusable, therefore, to allow this contagion to be propagated indefinitely, causing untold suffering to the affected animals and rnenacing the lives of persons, particu- larly children, who go upon the streets.
 "The only measures necessary to ob- tain the desired result are CD tax or license for all dogs, with a fee of S2 for males and $ for females and the destruc- ton of homeless or vagrant dogs; @ re- straint of all dogs which appear in public places either by the use of a leash or an efficient muZzle. .,' ..
 "There is no doubt that neglect has al- lowed the accumulation of ownerless dogs in this country to an extent that renders our large cities frequently liable to in- cursions of rabid animals. To even men ton muzzling however. is sufficient to bring tirades of abuse upon the head or the sanitarian, and dog sentimentalists are immediately up in arms. using time, influence and money to prevent such an ordinance. In spite of the obloquy With which it is received by certain mistaken class of the community, the results of muzzling amply justify its recommenda- tion, and its rigid enforcement without any additional requirement will exter- minate rabies In a district in shorter time than any other known method.'
 How Virus Takes Effect
 In his introduction pr Mohler, describ- Ing how the rabies is communicated, says:
 "The virus. after being deposited in the wound, remains latent for an extremely variable period of time. which also de- bends on the size and depth of the wound as well as it's location and the amount of virulent saliva introduced. Experiments have proved that the virus follows the course of the nerves to the spinal cord and along the latter to the brain before the symptoms appear Gerlach. having collected statistics from a large number of cases, has found the period between the bite and the appearance of the symp- tom to vary from 14 to 2S5 days. The great majority of cases however, con tract the disease in from three weeks to tbree months after the bite has been in ficted It has been clearly demonstrated by the experiments of Roux and Npcard that the bite of a dog Is infectious at least three days before 1t manifests symp- toms of rabies. while at the Atbens (Greece) Pacteur institute infection was noted in the saliva eight days before the dog showed signs of the disease
 "Rabies is a specific infectious disease involving the nervous system and char acterized by extreme exctability and other disorders, practically all ways terminating in death. The conta- zion of this disease has never been iso- lated. but the fact that the disease is caused by specific organism -princi- pally found in the nervous system is in- 6isputable." .a.