Contribution to the Cultivation of the Parasite of Rabies

Galtier 1 and Pasteur 2 demonstrated the infectiousness of rabies. Negri ~ next described the characteristic inclusions in the ganglion cells, and Babes, 4 J. Koch, 5 Volpino, 6 Proescher, 7 and others found minute granular or pleomorphic particles in the central nervous system of animals infected with ra~bies. Remlinger, s Poor and St einhardt, 9 Bertarelli and Volpino ~° demonstrated the filterability of the rabic virus; but the nature of the virus itself had remained u n k n o w n . In the early part of I912 I undertook to cultivate the rabic virus and I have now obtained certain results regarding which a brief report is appended. About fifty series of cultivations were made with the .brain or medulla removed aseptically from rabbits, guinea pigs, and dogs infected with "street" virus, "passage" virus, or " f i xed" virus. Usually the animals were etherized just before spontaneous death occurred. The method that has yielded the result to be reported is similar to that employed successfully for the cultivation of the spiroch~et~e