The rabies virus works agonizingly slowly, making the victims wait weeks or months to find out if they have the fatal illness. During that time, some may have tried to improve their odds by using medical or magical procedures, such as those found in a list of dubious cures that had been compiled by Pliny the Elder, a scholar in ancient Rome. One of those cures specified inserting ashes into the wound, obtained by burning the hair of the dog that bit the patient.
