§ DR. TANNER () Cork. Co. MidI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether in the system employed in Ireland of collecting Returns of rabid dogs there is any possibility of epilepsy, convulsions, and fits being returned as rabies in consequence of the ignorance of the disease and the methods of checking the accuracy of the Returns.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. ATKINSON,) Londonderry, N.It is quite conceivable that in rabies, as in other diseases, an error in diagnosis may occasionally be made, but every precaution against error is taken.
*See The Parliamentary Debates [Fourth Series], Vol. Ixxi., page 737.1534 No supposed outbreak is recorded by the veterinary department as one of rabies except after careful veterinary inquiry, and when the veterinary inspector has any doubt as to the nature of the disease, the head of the animal is sent to Dublin for experimental investigation by the pathologist engaged by the veterinary department for the purpose. Last year out of 441 reports of supposed outbreaks of the disease received in the veterinary department, only ninety-two were recorded as rabies.