in a part richly endowed with nerves.

A dog which has bitten a person should on no account be killed until its
condition has been proved one way or the other. Should rabies develop
and its destruction become necessary, the head and spinal cord should be
retained and forwarded, packed in ice, to a competent observer. Much
anxiety to the person bitten and to his friends would be avoided if
these rules were observed, because in many cases it will be shown that
the animal did not after all suffer from rabies, and that the patient
consequently runs no risk. If, on the other hand, rabies is proved to be
present, the patient should be submitted to the Pasteur treatment.

_Clinical Features._--There is almost always a history of the patient
having been bitten or licked by an animal supposed to suffer from
rabies. The incubation period averages about forty days, but varies from
a fortnight to seven or eight months, and is shorter in young than in
old persons. The original wound has long since healed, and beyond a
slight itchiness or pain shooting along the nerves of the part, shows no
sign of disturbance. A few days of general malaise, with chills and
giddiness precede the onset of the acute manifestations, which affect
chiefly the muscles of deglutition and respiration. One of the earliest
signs is that the patient has periodically a sudden catch in his
breathing "resembling what often occurs when a person goes into a cold
bath." This is due to spasm of the diaphragm, and is frequently
accompanied by a loud-sounding hiccough, likened by the laity to the
barking of a dog. Difficulty in swallowing fluids may be the first
symptom.

The spasms rapidly spread to all the muscles of deglutition and
respiration, so that the patient not only has the greatest difficulty in
swallowing, but has a constant sense of impending suffocation. To add to
his distress, a copious secretion of viscid saliva fills his mouth. Any
voluntary effort, as well as all forms of external stimuli, only serve
to aggravate the spasms which are always induced by the attempt to
swallow fluid, or even by the sound of running water.

The temperature is raised; the pulse is small, rapid, and intermittent;
and the urine may contain sugar and albumen.

The mind may remain clear to the end, or the patient may have delusions,
supposing himself to be surrounded by terrifying forms. There is always
extreme mental agitation and despair, and the sufferer is in constant