The disease in dogs is pretty well recognized by most people, but in case a
suspected dog is killed it is desirable to open the animal and examine the
contents of the stomach. While feed is absent, a variety of odd things may
be present which the abnormally changed appetite of the rabid dog has
induced it to swallow. Among such things may be straws, sticks, glass,
rags, earth, pieces of leather, and whatever the animal may have
encountered small enough to be swallowed. This miscellaneous collection in
the stomach of dogs, together with absence of feed, is regarded by
authorities as a very valuable sign, and in case of doubt may be made use
of by laymen. In important cases, however, the head of the dog, cow, or
other suspected animal should be removed and sent to the nearest biological
laboratory, where a positive diagnosis can be made within 36 hours by the
histological examination of the plexiform nerve ganglia, and within two or
three weeks by the intracerebral inoculation of rabbits with an emulsion of
the brain of the suspected animal.

_Treatment._--This is useless after the first appearance of symptoms. When,
however, a wound inflicted by a rabid animal can be discovered, it should
be immediately cauterized or even completely extirpated, care being taken
to cut entirely around the wound in the healthy tissues. For cauterizing
the wound, fuming nitric acid, the hot iron, and 10 per cent solution of
zinc chlorid are the most efficacious. To afford an absolute protection,
this should be done within a few moments after the bite has been inflicted,
although even as late as a few hours it has been known to thwart the
development of the disease.

Pasteur originated and perfected a system of preventive inoculation against
this disease which has greatly reduced the mortality in human subjects. Its
application to animals, however, is difficult and requires considerable
time and expense. A method of vaccination applicable to animals, consisting
of a single injection of a suspension of "fixed" rabies virus, is now being
quite extensively employed by veterinarians. Sanitary regulations which
seek to control effectively the disease by exterminating it among dogs are
most likely to prove successful. The measures which are adopted to this end
can not be discussed in this place, but it is a striking fact that where
the muzzling of all dogs has been rigidly enforced, as in England and in
certain German districts, the disease has b