Abstract
This chapter discusses the experimental animals. As living cells are required for virus multiplication, the earliest attempts to grow viruses were made, in the only source of living cells then available, that is, living animals. At present, these animals have been replaced, for most viral studies, by embryonated hen's eggs and tissue cultures. The foundation of virology was initiated by using animals like monkeys, ferrets, and mice. Rabbits were the first laboratory animal and before the viruses were separated from the other disease causing microbes, the intracerebral inoculation of brain homogenate from a rabid animal caused the death of these rabbits, and they observed that the virus could be passed serially to other rabbits. Unlike the rabbit, the rhesus monkey is still in common use for determining the potential neuropathogenicity of viruses. However, at present only the mouse and the hamster are used to any great extent in the cultivation and investigation of viruses. The other animals, despite their earlier importance, are at present used mainly for the production of antisera.
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