diff --git "a/everything_about_dogs_hydrophobia.txt" "b/everything_about_dogs_hydrophobia.txt" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/everything_about_dogs_hydrophobia.txt" @@ -0,0 +1,1579 @@ + + + +The followng article, (with some additions), is the one in my last book, +and it cannot well be improved on, but have added some strong words +against Hydrophobia, the side- 1 fight on, as, since this was written, fifteen +years ago, my non-believe in hydrophobia has been made stronger, as during +this period I have been bitten several times, and quite badly chewed up by +dogs that — by all the symptoms that are supposed to exist, and yet I am +here, writing another book, and none the worse for the bites. + +' "Germs" are now very fashionable with doctors, (before we had +so many "germs" there were not nearly so many sick and dying people as +there are now), but now most all verterinarians, and some doctors, get out +of hydrophobia the easiest way they can, by calling it a "germ." I would +like to see one of these "germs." + +Appendicitis, now so fashionable also, in humans, and an operation +almost invariably necessary, (the patient often dying, but "operation very +successful"), and it's a wonder the poor dog has as yet not gotten this trou- +ble. + +To speak out plain and honest, I do not believe in hydrophobia at all, +for I don't believe what I don't see, and a good deal that I do see. Many +others, and among them noted authorities, however, do believe in the exis- +tence of such a disease, and in writing on this subject I shall give you my +own ideas and belief, and also those of others more noted than myself — +so you can read it all and believe as you like. + +I have spent a lot of time since my first book in collecting additional +information and statistics on this subject, as it is an important one to know +all about that you can, and I consider that in this article all has been +said that can be said. The authorities I quote, pro. and con., are eminent, +and the case is now presented to you, the jury, to decide: + +It might be considered presumptious and egotistical in me to say that +there is no such disease, but I can honestly say that I have never seen a +case, and don't believe in it, and I have as good a right today to have "gone +mad" as any one who was ever bitten by a dog, for I carry scars on my +body that have been there for many years — from bites of dogs — and I +have been bitten hundreds of times in the past thirty years. While I am +writing this article I have five sores on my right wrist received yesterday +from a boarder, a mastiff, but I fully expect to be able to finish this book +and live for many years yet, long enough at least to see it in the hands of +every dog owner in this country; in fact, I never had time to "go mad." + +In handling dogs of all breeds, strange dogs, curs and thoroughbreds, +incidental to having been a "dog crank" for thirty-five years, it necessarily +follows that I have had a vast and varied experience, and .could not have +done all this and not get bitten. The bite from a dog does not trouble +me any more than if I cut my finger, which might be inconvenient and +bothersome for a few days. The only thing I have ever done when bitten, +if the bite was on a part of the body where I could get my lips to it, +was to at once suck the blood from the place bitten and spit it out. This +ends the matter there and then with me. There might have been danger +of blood poisoning, as there always is from a wound, but if so, how simple +to suck out this poison and at once get rid of all danger by spitting out +the poison you have abstracted from the wound. It must be done imme- +diately, however. Is there anything more simple than this? + +In case you are bitten on any portion of the body that you could not +get at to suck the wound, or some one was not near to do this for you, + + +then apply Peroxyde of Hydrogen to the bite. Allow it to remain on for +a minute or so, then remove the foamy matter produced thereby by squeez- +ing onto it some water from a sponge or cloth. Then keep the wound +clean by applying the Peroxyde three or four times a day and using often +the antiseptic solution given under heading of "Bites." + +(Since writing this article, tincture of iron is the latest treatment, +now used by doctors for bites, instead of cauterizing the wounds, and then, +the "Unguentine Salve" for healing). + +Now, should you be bitten by a dog, if you are a sensible person, not +nervous or easily scared, have not read too many highly colored and sensa- +tional "mad dog" items in the newspapers (which kill more people than +dogs do), and keep your sober senses about you, don't believe or pay any +attention to what your supposed friends say, when they tell you "how +sorry they are," and bestow on you a look of pity, but go about your busi- +ness as usual; forget the affair, and you will never go mad. If you believe +all you read and hear as to going mad, lose your nerve and senses and get +scared, it's the easiest thing in the world to "go mad" and die. + +If this is not logic, why have I not gone mad years ago? I was bitten +a couple of years ago by a Yorkshire terrier brought to me that was suf- +fering from what a very good veterinary surgeon in Cincinnati had diagnos- +ed as dumb rabies in this dog. I could not take the dog to treat, as I +was just starting .on a trip, so sent the animal to a veterinary surgen, who +took him to treat. This dog, after biting me, also bit him, and the dog +died in twenty-four hours. The doctor held a post-mortem examination and +told me it was a case of dumb rabies; but the doctor and I are both living. + +Find me a doctor who can cure hydrophobia, and then I will be glad +to have him explain to me what the disease is. If he can do this, then I'll +try to believe there is such a thing as hydrophobia. If he can't cure it, he +doesn't know what it is, for there is in this enlightened age a cure for every +disease; but you must first know what ycu are trying to cure, or you won't +cure it. + +Every summer the papers are full of mad dog victims; but our best +authorities who do believe in hydrophobia will tell you that summer, or +in hot weather, is not the season of the year that dogs go mad. You read +of the person dying in great agony; that he bites and barks, etc., etc. So +he apparently does, I will admit, as I know of some authenticated cases like +this, but the "barking and biting" could easily be explained if the atten- +dants and friends who saw it were not all themselves scared and off their +base and had let imagination make them so — all due to the scare that comes +to so many from the awful word "hydrophobia" and the many vivid and +overdrawn accounts they have read in the papers gotten up by a very bright +reporter who had to furnish something sensational for his paper. It's just +like the cry of "fire" to so many people, who often lose their lives by not +retaining their senses about them and in most cases of this kind taking +their time and getting safely out of the burning building, instead of either +jumping out of a high window to be dashed to pieces on the pavement below +or getting .crushed to death in the mad rush of the others. + +In case you are bitten by a dog, see to it that the dog is not killed, +but that he is confined and well taken care of for a few weeks, at least +until you can see and know for yourself that he was not mad, and then +you can drop the matter. What an insane idea it is to kill the dog after he +has bitten you, for then you will never know whether he was mad or not, +and the constant dread and fear will always be with you, and probably — +if you are of a nervous disposition — may yet cause you to "go mad" and +die. I have often been called in to put a poor dog out of the way that was +supposed to be mad (and I chloroformed it according to orders from its +owner), thinking to myself at the time that it was better for the dog than +to live and be cared for by an idiot who did not know near as much as +the poor dog, who was in serious trouble, of course, but due to some natural +cause and not to so-called hydrophobia. Sometimes, however, out of pity +for the dog, when I saw he had a chance to live if properly treated, I have +asked to be allowed to take the dog to my kennels, and I went to work + + + + +and saved the pooi* fellow. I am deeply in earnest in my views oil this" +much-mooted suhject, and I believe that thousands of people would be alive +today that have died from hydrophobia if they would look at the matter +os I do and act accordingly. Many poor dogs have fits hi summer, due to +many causes, but they could nearly all have been cured ii properly treated +in time, and as all important diseases are treated in this book, if you will +follow its teachings your dog will live until the time comes for him to pass +in his checks and go to "dog heaven" with the rest of the good canines +gone before. + +A hard question for you or any doctor to answer is, "Why have I +not gone mad" when it is a fact not to be denied that I have been bitten +bitten by so-called mad dogs? I am willing to be convinced that I am wrong, +if it can be done. While I may be taking up too much space on this subject, +yet it is an important one. I will next give two interviews that were pub- +lished in March, 1896, in a St. Louis paper that may interest and benefit +some: + +"Prof. Al. G. Eberhart, who came to St. Louis last v/eek to assume +active charge of the preparations for the bench show, is a man who has spent +the better part of his life raising and caring for dogs, and his opinion upon +this subject is that of an authority. Prof. Eberhart says: + +" '1 nave been bitten by dogs over a hundred times in my life and carry +scars now that I've had for twenty-five years. Some of these so-called mad +dogs have bitten me, but yet I am not mad. I have been bitten by dogs +that veterinary surgeons and regular physicians have pronounced and diag- +nosed as having rabies, but I didn't go mad because I've yet to see a genuine +mad dog. Had I been nervous and easily scared I would very likely have +been buried long ago. Some ten years ago a young lady in New York City +was bitten by her pet dog, and, not wanting to have it killed, it was sent +to Harry Jennings, the dog fancier. The dog bit him several times. The +young lady died in three weeks from alleged hydrophobia, and Harry +Jennings is alive yet. The young lady died from fright. This I know to +be a fact. Find me a doctor that can tell what hydrophobia is, then I'll +try to believe there is such a disease. If the doctor can't tell you what +the disease is, he surely can't cure it. When a dog bites you, if it is on +any part of your body where you can get your mouth to it as soon as bitten, +suck the wound, thus quickly abstracting the poison if any there, spit it out +and forget that you were bitten by a dog, for depend on it this ends the +matter there and then. You have gotten rid of the poison before it was +distributed through the system. If on any part of the body you can't get +at, get a friend to do it for you. Another method that is good is to at once +wash the wound with water. Then apply the actual cautery, a piece of iron +heated to white heat, not to the flesh, but hold it about half an inch from +it. The intense heat causes but little pain and will destroy the bacilli of +rabies to the depth of one-quarter of an inch. If carbolic or nitric acid or +nitrate of silver is used, not five minutes should elapse, as unless properly +performed inside of ten minutes it is not only useless but positively injur- +ious as the poison of rabies will have been distributed throughout the sys- +tem in this time.' " + +The following appeared editorially in the St. Louis Republic of Febru- +ary 24, 1896: "The interview with Prof. Al. G. Eberhart, Superintendent of +the St. Louis bench show, which was printed in the Sunday Post-Dispatch, +in which Prof. Eberhart made the assertion that he had never seen a +genuine case of hydrophobia, and that he believed that cases that resulted +in what was diagnosed as rabies from the effects of dog bites were the +result of imagination, has created much talk and considerable comment. + +"Prof. Eberhart was called upon Saturday by a Post-Dispatch re- +porter, and asked if he could make his position as a disbeliever in the ex- +istence of the disease plainer than those reasons given in the short letter +in last Sunday's Post-Dispatch. + +" 'Yes,' said the Professor, 'I believe that I can. When I said that +I had never seen a genuine case of hydrophobia I meant it. I have seen +many dogs that were thought to be mad, but have never yet seen one that + + +HYDROi'llOlSiA 185 + +1 Was thoroughly Satisfied was afflicted with rabies. If people would save +the lives of dogs suspected of being thus affected, we might in time have +an understanding of the subject by studying the sick dogs. But the first +thing that happens to a dog when he shows signs of anything wrong is to +immediately suspect it of being mad, and after that it is a very short time +until its existence is ended by a bullet through the head, and the most val- +uable evidence in the case is destroyed. If the dog had been spared and +confined, if he had been mad, the fact could have been easily determined, +and he could be destroyed after the evidence was complete that it was a +case of rabies without a shadow of doubt. But this course is seldom pursued, +and the dog that has bitten any one in a spasm.it makes no matter what +was the foundation for his pain, is immediately killed without regard to his +value, and the bitten party left to suffer the torments of uncertainty as to +whether he or she was inoculated with the virus of hydrophobia or not. + +" 'Now here is a case in point,' continued the professor. 'Last week, +just before I came to St. Louis, a gentleman called on me one evening at +my home in Cincinnati and said that he had just taken his pet dog to the +police station near my house to be shot; that he thought that the dog had +gone mad, and to be on the safe side he had decided to have him destroyed, +and had brought him to the station house for that purpose. It was with +much reluctance that he did this, however, as the dog was a household pet, +and its death would be keenly felt and its presence missed. The policeman +who was on duty at the time suggested that, as I lived near the station he +could call me over to look at the dog. I assured the gentleman that I +would go over to the station in a few minutes, and if I could do anything +for the animal I would use the extent of my abilities, and he returned home. +" 'After I had finished my dinner I went over to the police station and +found that the Sergeant had arrived. I asked him if he had the dog. +" 'Yes, said he; 'he's in that cage there." +" 'Bring him out,' said I. + +" 'Not on your life,' replied the Sergeant. 'I wouldn't touch that dog +for all the money in Hamilton County. Why, man, he's mad; I won't go +near him. If you want to be foolish enough to try and do anything with +him, go and unlock the cell yourself; I think he ought to be shot without +delay.' + +" 'Well, I went over to the cell and saw the dog. He was a little +Italian greyhound, as fragile-looking as a long-stemmed wine glass. The +poor little fellow was in the throes of a hard spasm as I looked at him. +He had his delicate, slender, head thrust between the bars in his pain, and +his hind-quarters were jammed in between the two adjoining uprights. He +looked up at me with fear showing out of his sick, brown eyes, but be- +trayed no signs of dog madness. He was so weak and trembling that he +could scarcely stand. + +" 'I unlocked the cell door and went in and picked the little fellow +up, and after soothing him and getting him quieted down a little, I admin- +istered a dose of a fractional part of a grain of morphine to ease his im- +mediate pain, and carried him away. A little later I gave him a small dose +of castor oil and put him to bed. I sat up with that dog until 3 o'clock +in the morning, and after he was relieved by the oil he was well, and, +barring the weakness resulting from his terrific spasms of the night before, +he was perfectly sound.' " + +(I forgot to state in this interview that before leaving the dog, and +after the oil, I gave him a dose of worm medicine; result was a lot of +worms passed, and here was the cause of this "mad dog.") + +" 'After I had arisen in the morning I telephoned the owner of the +dog to come and get his pet, He came, and his gratitude was manifest +in the way he greeted the little fellow that he had condemned to death the +night before, + +" 'Now, supposing that the dog had bitten the Police Sergeant. The +Sergeant was firmly convinced that the dog was afflicted with the rabies, +and if, by any possibility the dog had bitten him he would have worried +himself until it would have perhaps resulted in an attack of hydrophobia, + + + +The clog would have been immediately killed, and thus all evidence that +there was no rabies manifested in the animal would have been destroyed, +and another name would have been added to the list of supposed victims to +this terrible disease, delusion, or whatever you choose to term it. + +" 'But what was really the matter with the dog, Professor?' queried +the Post-Dispatch man. + +" 'Worms,' said Prof. Eberhart, 'nothing but worms. And let me tell +you that at the bottom of nearly every illness to which a dog is subjected +you will find worms to be the cause. In fact, they cause eight-tenths of all +the deaths in the canine world. If owners would keep their dogs' bowels +open with an occasional dose of some purgative there would be many less +cases of "mad dogs" like that poor little, shivering, sick Italian greyhound +lying on the sold stone floor of that Cincinnati station cell. + +" 'But that wasn't the end of that case,' continued the Professor, 'and +this part of it shows just how little this question of mad dogs is undersood. +After I had gone down town to my office the same morning the dog had +been taken home, his owner, who had called for him in the morning, +came in. + +" 'Now, Professor,' said he, 'I know and you know that our dog is +all right, but my wife has been worrying all night about him, and she +was so frightened yesterday over his wild running and jumping that noth- +ing but a personal visit from you will reassure her and quiet her fears, +and I wish you would call at my house and see her. + +" 'I went out to the gentleman's residence and talked to his wife. I +told her how her dog would act under certain conditions. I asked her, if +her infant was thrown into spasms from worms if she would be afraid of +contracting hydrophobia from it. I showed her that an ailment affected +a dog exactly as it would a human. She was a sensible woman and saw +the point at once, and I am sure there will be no more "rabies" in her dogs. + +" 'Now, I know of another case,' said the professor, 'where a small +child was bitten and a fearful gash cut by the dog's teeth clean to the +skull, and that dog died two days later with all the aversion to water that +they claim is an infallible symptom of hydrophobia, that he could manifest +still the little boy did not have rabies, and simply because he was too small +to take part in his parents' worry over the outcome of the bite.' " + +The following appeared editorially in the St. Louis Republic, Feb. 24, +1896: + +"Is the Mad Dog a Myth? + +"This is far from dog-day time, but The Republic trusts that the optim- +ism of the St. Louis Bench Show's Superintendent will be treasured by ner- +vous mothers for use next August. He says that there is no such thing as +poisonous rabies in dogs. + +"It is curious that every man who has handled great numbers of dogs +bears the same testimony. + +"There is danger of blood poisoning as a result of any animal's bite; +and there is lock-jaw as the extreme effect of blood poisoning. But the men +who have been longest in charge of dogs agree that there is no rabid con- +dition when a bite is more dangerous than at any other time; and that a +dog's bite at any time is no more dangerous than the scratch of a cat. + +"It does seem that they ought to know. For the sake of humanity's +peace of mind the doctors should find out whether the experience of men +who have been bitten dozens of times is worth anything." + +Harry W. Lacy recently wrote in the American Stockkeeper on this +subject: "One would think that a man having intelligence enough to write +editorials on a leading daily paper would inform himself sufficiently on the +subject not to make such a foolish statement as that muzzling dogs was a +sure way to produce hydrophobia, but this is what a Boston Standard +editorial said last week. Probably there is no subject about which the +average newspaper writer gets off more tommy rot than hydrophobia and +mad dog scares. + + +"These hydrophobia scares are mainly due to the sensational imagina- +tion of the reporter who plays upon the nervousness of a public only too +ready to shy a stone at dog, and then when the scare has assumed suitable +proportions and a muzzling order goes forth, these writers are again the +first to question its advisability and play on tbe feeling of their readers +who may own dogs, with the nonsensical statement alluded to above. + +"The very rare disease called hydrophobia can only be produced +through- inoculation with the rabial virus, and a dog might mear a muzzle +to the end of his natural life, and unless he was actually bitten by a rabid +dog he would be none the worse, though, according to his temperament, +the incubus might make him bad tempered, irritable, and so excite his ner- +vous temperament as to send him into a fit wherein he would probably dis- +play some of those symptoms of rabies popularly, but erroneously, asso- +ciated with hydrophobia. + +"If such a thing as hydrophobia really exists in a locality there is no +surer method to stamp it out than a general muzzling order strictly en- +forced. The reason is obvious. This may entail hardship on individual +dogs, but the good of the others and the community at large demands it. + +"Speaking of hydrophobia scares we do not hesitate to say that the +Pasteur Institute in New York has done more to keep alive an unhealthy +state of public mind in regard to the disease than any other agency. The +advent of new patients is heralded throughout the country, and patients +from distant states are treated on the supposition that they have been bit- +ten by mad dogs, but rarely is it proved that the dogs were really rabid. +Still they undergo the treatment, and Dr. Gibier claims credit for subse- +quent immunity." + +Here are the ideas of Dr. H. Clay Glover, of New York City, one of the +highest authorities on canine diseases that we have in America: + +Dr. H. Clay Glover, interviewed on the muzzling question by a New +York Herald man, was asked why the muzzle was unnecessary. "Because," +said Dr. Glover, "it is of no possible benefit either to the dog or public. The +mad dog scare, which has been so long agitated, is a myth, and one calcu- +lated to do much injury by the introduction of false hydrophobia induced +by fear. During my long experience in canine practice I have never seen +but one case of authenticated rabies. I have been called to see hundreds +of so-called mad dogs, and found they were merely in convulsions, afflicted +by epilepsy or suffering from an attack of indigestion or from over excite- +ment, all of which yield to proper treatment." + +Another very able authority is next given: + +In the Animal World, Mr. Rotherhan, a canine practitioner, describes +the differences between rabies, apoplexy and epilepsy. He says: "In rabies +a dog never foams at the mouth, its tongue and lips are brown and hard- +looking, the discharge from the mouth is small in quantity, brownish in +color and hangs about the lips like strings of gum; the eyes have an un- +natural glare. In apoplexy there is sudden loss of power, the dog falls +down, either partially or wholly insensible, the eyes are fixed and blood- +shot, the breathing is heavy; there is no unusual discharge of saliva. In +epilepsy the dog is seen to tremble just as the fit is coming on. If the dog +tries to move he falls on one side, his jaws begin to champ violently, all +voluntary muscles are powerfully convulsed; generally he utters sharp, short +cries, but not always; there is a copious discharge of white, frothy saliva, +the gums are of a pale leaden hue. When recovering from an epileptic fit +the dog has a bewildered look, the eyes having a dull and stupid expression." + +So great is the popular dread of hydrophobia that a slight derange- +ment of the dog's nervous system is often mistaken for symptoms of rabies, +while a dog in convulsions, in an epileptic fit, or stricken with apoplexy +may be shot as mad — particularly if it be hot weather — before there is a +chance of determining the nature of his disease. The principal centers +of the nervous system are the brain and the spinal cord. These Stonehenge +compares to the electric telegraph. The brain he calls the central office. +From that station are issued messages to all parts of the body, and the +wires which carry those messages are the nerves of motion, the nerves of + + + + +sensation and the nerves of organic life, all of which have their separate* +ganglia, or the lesser station masters. + +The normal, movements of the body are, says a writer in Our Animal +Friends, the result of harmonious, co-ordinated functional activity of the +neuro-muscular mechanism, i. e., of the nerve centers, nerves and muscles. +In convulsions the movements are purposeless and irregular, and are, of +course, wasteful of the animal energies. A dog may have a fit from over- +exertion in the heat of the sun, from neuralgic pains or from toothache, from +meningitis, excessive fright, parasites in the nose or brain, acute ear dis- +ease, or from the distress of being lost in a large city; or,, if a female, of +being deprived of her whelps. Recently it has been shown that mental +distress has the power to give a dog diabetes. It stands to reason that so +sensitive an animal should never be unduly excited. + +On no account allow one dog to see another in a fit. The suffering dog +should have his head wet and should be kept for a time in a dark, quiet +place, free from all excitement. In most cases of convulsions a small dose +of bromide of potassium will do great good. Hydrophobia, considered as +a canine disease ,is decidely a misnomer. The proper term for canine +madness is rabies. The rabid dog has "no fear of water." On the con- +trary, he craves it, and, unless paralyzed, he has no difficulty In swallowing +it. Rabies is a specific disease of the nervous system. In all cases there +is an intense inflammation of the brain and spinal marrow, ending in a +loss of function, which is a result common to inflamed glands. The mucous +glands of the stomach and bowels, the liver, the pancreas and the kidneys +are all more or less injected with blood; but the salivary glands are +especially affected, and the secretion of saliva is greatly increased. There +is the furious or maniacal form of rabies and the paralytic. The paralytic +is known as dumb rabies. Absolutely typical cases of either form are as +rare as is the disease. Death, however, usually results in from two to ten +days in the furious form, while in dumb rabies the period is much +shorter. + +The howl or bark of a mad dog is very remarkable. It is totally unlike +his ordinary voice, and is sonorous and melancholy to an extreme. No one +need mistake it. The dog's appetite is so perverted that he will swallow +stones, sticks, straws and almost any filth. His biting and snapping are +reflex actions; that should not be regarded as deliberate. It is then that +he is really dangerous. Irritability is an advance stage of rabies. In the +earlier stages the animal is sullen and inclined to hide away in corners. +His eyes grow wild and suspicious. If at large he will roam over wide +tracts of country at a jog trot, with his head down and his tongue out. +In dumb rabies there is an entire absence of excitement. The muscles of +mastication are paralyzed so that the lower jaw is dropped! there is no +maniacal stage at all. + +Epileptical convulsions are due to an irregular discharge of the nerve +cells. They occur unexpectedly, are of variable duration, and the spasms +are of two kinds. A prolonged muscular contraction is called a tonic spasm. +Following the tonic spasm are the clonic spasm, which consist of alternate +contraction and relaxation. The dog, like the human subject, will froth +at the mouth and bite the tongue. Epilepsy may be hereditary, or may +be due to teething and worms. + +Apoplexy differs greatly from epilepsy. The convulsions are not +prominent; the pupils of the eyes are either contracted or dilated; there +is long-continued unconsciousness and more or less paralysis. + +Meningitis, so often mistaken for rabies, is yet very different. The +temperature is very much elevated, which it is not in rabies; the dog snaps, +but shows no tendency to bite, and there is no particular bark and howl +combined, although the dog's voice is high-pitched. + +Phrentitis is simply inflammation of the brain. It is sometimes a com- +plication of distempers, and is the only disorder which resembles rabies. +It generally occurs in the hottest weather. The dog can not propagate +phrentitis by salivary inocculation. + +"Hydrophobia in human beings," says a writer, "results from accidents + + + +of a nervous order, sometimes mortal, sometimes curable, according as +they derive from disorders analogous to tentanus (lockjaw) produced by +a wound or from purely mental disorders." According to Dr. Caffe, +"Spontaneous rabiform hydrophobia is the only rabies that exists, and that +is a mortal rabies." Before M. Pasteur's system was invented about nine- +teen persons annually were officially reported to have died of hydropho- +bia. Now, strange as it may seem, the number of persons who annually re- +port themselves bitten by rabid dogs averages from 1,500 to 2,000. Rabies +is a rare disease, rarer today than in the past, and hydrophobia is more +or less a form of hysteria. Were there less talk about it, it would be bet- +ter for the community. A little more knowledge of our own nervous sys- +tem, a little less ignorance of the dog's, and we shall be far more likely +to escape hydrophob a entirely than to die from it or to be saved by inocu- +lation. + +I will now give a most important and valuable interview with the +famous medical expert, Prof. Edward C. Spitzka, of New York. Prof. +Spitzka declares the Pasteur rabies theory and treatment a humbug from +start to finish, and rabies to be a hoax. Ex-United States Surgeon General +Dr. Wm. A. Hammond indorses his decision. Such arguments as Prof. +Spitzka's, a most eminent authority, should convince every one who reads +it that he is correct: + +"Although Pasteur was undoubtedly as sincere in his work as his +follower, Paul Gibier, doubtless is in dispensing the ridiculous treatment," +said Prof. Spitzka, "I am willing to stake my reputation that there is no +such disease as 'hydrophobia,' or 'rabies,' in existence, and I am further +impressed that the Pasteur inoculations are injurious. This is not merely +my opinion. I have a practical explanation for every statement I make, +and have carefully weighed every possible opposition to my conclusions +for a parallel consideration. + +"I am accordingly prepared to answer any criticism. Of course, the +strongest retaliation I shall receive will be the broad charge that I am +following in the footsteps of the narrow-minded opposers of. the Wonderful +.Tenner smallpox vaccination cPscovery, on which the Pasteur treatment +hinges its practicability. As to this most enrnent charge there is no con- +nection between the two treatments. For while every one acknowledges +the existence of the dreadful smallpox, the existence of hydrophobia, or ra- +bies, has never been satisfactorily demonstrated. I have not myself — nor has +any other expert investigator — been able to distinctly diagnose a single +case of the so-called malady, to my knowledge. I have often witnessed +the symptoms, commonly termed 'rabies,' but in every instance these ex- +citing observations have been plainly nothing more than tetanus symptoms +of acute fevers and the many forms of deadly blood poisoning. + +"The water theory is too absurd and ridiculous to have any significance. +There is not an authority to be found for its assumption. It is yet to be +explained how water could possibly have such an effect, while all the +knowledge modern science has amassed goes to provide the belief merely an +antiquated superstition, to which some people still cling. + +"When Pasteur's boom was exploded, and the public went wild with en- +thusiasm over it, along with the great majority of scientific men, I was +also taken in by the contagion. At the time I was impressed that with +the increasing knowledge gained in the field of contagious and epidemic +diseases generally, much substantial advance has not been recorded in +the history of the mysterious rabies, but realizing that this was not due +to neglect of the subject, I was not surprised at the birth of the Pasteur +theory. + +"Owing to the terrible nature of the symptoms attributed to this +unfounded malady, an attractive field of research has been open to those +animated by an earnest desire to prevent and relieve human sufferings +from the time of the earliest civilization. The symptoms are described in +the works of Horace, Aristotle, Virgil and Plutarch, in a manner which +Allows that while the world has advanced in all other lines of medical +science it is pitifully behind the date in clinging to this relic of the queer +superstition of ancient times. + +"Pasteur was fascinated — or shall I say hypnotized? — by the sensa- +tionalism and mystery of the belief. It is most likely due to the latter +element that the universe has not become emancipated from such super- +stitions as are involved in the 'rabies' or hydrophobia hoax, which really +belong to medieval history. + +"Take a practical, up-to-date view of the matter. All epidemic dis- +orders should be accompanied with evidences approaching in exactitude, +at least, a degree of mathematical proof. 'Rabies' has not, while all others +have. The symptoms observed during life, as well as the signs found in +the dead body, in such diseases as smallpox, typhus fever and cholera, for +instance, are characteristic, decisive and constant. The symptoms in 'rabies' +in man are extremely vague, conflicting and , inconsistent, and, further- +more, post-mortem study in man, as well as in canine, has yielded no re- +sult of other than negative value. + +"Much of the observation made of queer-acting dogs is made through +optics disturbed by fear, and by persons who are incompetent to judge +what they see, consequently if a canine froth at the mouth, run with his +tongue out and carry his tail drawn under his body he has the rabies, and +the revolver or policeman's polished baton is uncermoniously called into +service. + +"What nonsense! Such signs have been observed in dogs that have +merely been chased or beaten, or that are afflicted with ordinary canine +diseases. What if they are taken to a water trough and go into convulsions +when they see the liquid. They are overheated and at a high tension +of nervous excitement. Accordingly they conceive a craving for water, yet +in such a state they are unable to compose themselves sufficiently to par- +take of it, and so the unquenchable craving throws them into the dread- +ful paroxysms which decides their fate. + +"The same explanation serves for the supposed sufferers of rabies in +man. Any human being suspected to be infected with rabies who is men- +tally weak enough to work up a like nervous excitement to that I have +j-ust cited in the canine will suffer parallel symptoms; the others bitten +by so-called rabid mad dogs will suffer no ill effects unless it be from +blood poisoning, infected by decayed teeth in the animal's mouth. In the +latter case the water symptoms do not present themselves if the afflicted +are strong enough in mind to keep control of their nervous systems. + +"I believe that many of the sufferers who develop the imaginary dis- +eases were bitten by animals suffering not from rabies, but from epilepsy +or from gastro intestinal disease; nay, even by healthy dogs. The serious- +ness and oft-times fatal influence of terror and expectant attention, fos- +tered by the excitement of popular alarm is equally attested by other +epidemics of imitative nervous disorder, and is a familiar fact to those +who have carefully and scientifically studied the possible influences of +mind on the body. + +"From as far back as the fifteenth century, when the Alsatian pheas- +ants imagined they were changed to wolves, ran on all fours, howling +demonically and tearing children to pieces, and insisting that their limbs +be lopped off in order to convince others that the wolfish fur grew +inward from their skins, to the present day when those dreading hydro- +phobia bark and snarl like dogs, mew and spit like cats and are thrown +into convulsions at sight of water, the records of the disorder are replete +to overflowing with delusion, superstition, hysteria and unconscious simu- +lation. + +"The tragi-comical case of a number of persons dying in the sixteenth +century, after having eaten of a pig that had been bitten by a dog, which +in turn had been bitten by another and believed to be a rabid one, found +its counterpart a short time ago in Russia, where a medical editor and a +prominent follower of Pasteur suggested the treating of a number of per- +sons in the Pasteur Institute at Odessa for no better reason than that +they had partaken of milk from a cow bitten by a suspicious acting dog. + + + +"In order to determine how great the danger from 'rabies' was in +the United States about ten years ago, when Pasteurism was popularized +in the country, I carefully followed up all the newspaper and medical jour- +nal reports of alleged outbreaks of the malady, and in not a single case +was satisfactory evidence of its existence obtained. The reported outbreaks +were mostly located in or near two centers, Newark and Chicago. In the +epidemic at Niles Centre, seven miles from Chicago, which led to a wild +hunt and slaughter of the innocent canines in that village, the human +subjects were successfully cured by the 'madstone' — a harmless species of +the 'faith cure' in this case. But the subsidence of the panic was mostly +due to a sensible physician who declined to .make a premature diagnosis. + +"At Newark, scientific tests were made, which showed that neither +the persons dying of alleged 'rabies,' the dogs that had bitten them, nor the +children reputed to have been saved by the Pasteur treatment, had been +afflicted with any such disease. + +"Prof. Briggs, of the Carnegie Laboratory, and Law, of Cornell, inoc- +culated dogs with material from the deceased pound-keeper, Neall, as I +did from the deceased Hertlin, and in every case with negative results. + +"The veterinarian, Runge, kept the clogs bitten by the suspected animal +in .quarantine for four months and then discharged them as not 'rabid.' +Some children bitten by the same dog and not treated by Pasteur are today +known to me. They are as free from disease as those who were sub- +jected to the treatment. + +"Scores of observations might be added in bringing the review up to +date, all of which tend to show that the cases reported, including the eight +Baltimore victims, were not sufferers of any trumped-up malady as 'rabies.' +From what I have learned of those of the latter who died after receiving +the Pasteur treatment, I should say they were poisoned, either by the +inoculations or by ptomaines from decayed teeth of the suspicious canine +that bit them. Of the others who are believed to' have been saved from +the dreadful disease by Gibier's hand, I am satisfied that in biting them +the animal didn't happen to get any of the poisonous saliva in the wound +or that their systems were not susceptible to the dangers of the Pasteur +inoculation. Science has proved that what is harmless to some persons +may be deadly to others. The followers of the Pasteur treatment, how- +ever, disregard this established fact. + +"In Pennsylvania a number of persons were needlessly rendered un- +happy by a sensational report to the effect that 'rabies' had become epi- +demic in one of the State's prosperous villages. A large number of school +children and several adults had been infected by dog bites. After several +of the children and two of the adults had died, the dog — which was a pet — +was located. The animal was found to be suffering from epileptic fits, +induced by his having swallowed a chicken bone. The deaths caused by +the bites were undoubtedly due to the same cause as I have explained in +regard to the Baltimore victims. + +"As a whole, in all the cases reported as 'lyssa,' 'rabies' or 'hydropho- +bia,' it was either not shown that the subject had been bitten by a dog at +all, or that the dog had been mad in the Pasteur sense. Indeed, the +errors that have been committed in this direction would be amusing were +it not for other and tragical attendant features. + +"Let it be inoculated in the public mind that the sensational symp- +toms which tradition assigns to rabies are fictitious, and, like the fear of +water which has given a name to the malcondition, never occurs after the +bite of a dog; that it is no more possible for a dog to inoculate a man +with the tendency to bark and run on all faurs than it is for a man to +inoculate a dog with the faculty of speech and an upright gait — then what +has been drifting through medical and newspaper literature as rabies would +disappear. + +"If once thoroughly understood by the people at large, that supersti- +tious fear and expectant attention may not alone develop serious nervous +symptoms, but, also actually cause death, many who assume themselves +threatened with some rational ill effects, such as ptomaine poisoning after a + + + + +dog bite, would cultivate that healthful self-control, which was so happily +inoculated by Dr. James Gordon Spencer in the Watertown case, and Dr. +Exton in the Arlington case." + +Herewith is reproduced Hugh Dalziel's entire treatise on this subject. +He is a noted authority in England and the author of several books on +dogs and horses. You will see that he believes in hydrophobia, so you +have now both sides of the question to read, ponder over and digest so as +to get a full and complete idea of the matter in all its bearings; + +"Although the symptoms of this terrible disease have long been recog- +nized and clearly stated by scentfic men, there is still, unfortunately, great +ignorance regarding it evinced by the general public — an ignorance fraught +with much danger to man, and the cause of much cruelty and death, often +most brutally inflicted on hundreds of poor dogs, more innocent of mad- +ness than the frantic crowd who do their best to hunt the poor frightened, +nervous beast into that state. + +"I have found the prevailing idea of a mad dog to be that of an +animal with glaring, bloodshot eyes, covered with the froth of his excite- +ment, and rushing wildly hither and thither in search of man or beast +to bite; whilst a dog lost in a crowded town, and excitedly nervous finding +himself out of his knowledge, is often enough to raise the croy of 'a mad +dog,' and with many a fit is a sign positive, and the occurrence of epilepsy +has been the incitement to canine murder in numberless instances. . + +"It is quite true that the disease produces great nervous excitement, +and creates a spirit of unrest — it also, in the first stages of its existence, +increases the flow of saliva — but not the emission of froth from the mouth, +which is produced by the champing of the jaws in an epileptic fit; in rabies, +the discharge becomes thick and glutinous, and the sufferer may be seen +paw'ng at his mouth to clear it, as though choked with a bone. The dispo- +sition of the dog is often entirely changed, and one frolicsome and fond of +being caressed may become sullen and shy, retiring into some quiet lair, +generally selecting some dark corner, behind a large object. If out on the +march he will rather evade man than seek company; and although biting +furiously at all and everything that obstructs his passage, rarely going out +of his way to seek an enemy. He evinces a strong desire to tear and gnaw +everything he gets hold of; nothing comes amiss to him, and the dispo- +sition to bite is shown by his frequently snapping at imaginary objects +in the air. Contrary to the generally received -opinion, and condemnatory +of the name hydrophobia, erroneously given to this disease in the dog, the +poor sufferer laps water greedily as long as his power over the muscles is +retained, and #hen that is gone, plunges his head into the water to cool +his parched and burning mouth. In the latter stages, the dog may have +convulsions, but fits are not a premonitory, nor an early symptom, and their +presence, independent of more certain evidence of rabies, should never give +rise to fear. + +"I can not do more than to indicate the more prominent and well- +known certain symptoms, and those who wish for fuller information on +the subject should consult the works of Youatt, and the more recent book +of Dr. Fleming. + +"Whilst too great care and caution cannot be used in dealing with a +disease so dangerous, I wish to warn my readers against that unnecessary +and hysterical alarm which dethrones the reason, and predisposes to the +gravest results. If there be reason to suspect a dog of madness, if his +natural disposition appears changed without a traceable cause, if he tears +and bites at his bedding, pieces of wood, carpets, dirt, etc., if he be seen +to paw at his mouth frequently, whilst no obstructive articles is in his +throat, if at intervals he snaps and bites savagely at objects real and +imaginary, if, after these paroxysms, he be seen to stagger and fall, if he +show an insatiable thirst — if any or all of these symptoms be present, shut +him up where he can do no harm, and call in to your aid a verterinary +surgeon. By allowing Him to study the case, you will do a public good; +for fortunately, cases of rabies are very rare, and it is only' by the careful + + + + +investigation of them by men specially educated to undertake the duty, +that we can ever hope to discover a cure. + +"Among the numerous superstitions that hang like clouds round ca- +nine madness, obscuring any possibility of a clear view of it, 1 will refer +to one only, most of them being altogether unworthy of notice. It has +long been a popular belief that a person bitten by a dog, even if the. ani- +mal be in perfect health at the time, is never safe from an attack of +rabies so long as the dog lives; for it is held, that should the dog become +mad at any future period, however distant, the person bitten will also fall +a victim to the disease. Cases supposed to prove that rabies may be com- +municated by a dog free from it are constantly cropping up, and I know +of a case of a woman who is said to have died from hydrophobia, caused +by the bite of a dog that was clearly proved to be free from rabies at the +time, and has remained so ever since. The woman, it appears, was in an +upper room with her child, and the entrance of a small dog so alarmed +her for her child's safety that she seized the intruder and threw it out of +the window, and was bitten in the struggle; the woman was taken ill and +died, showing all the symptoms of hydrophobia, and the surgeon who at- +tended her certified that death was from that disease. 1 do not intend to +dispute the opinion thus given, but I venture to say had the whole facts +of the case been carefully investigated, say, by a jury of physicians of +experience, it would have proved that the bite of that dog had but a small +share in causing the woman's death. To me it appears as reasonable +to believe that the dog could have bitten the woman without being in the +same room with her, as that the bite could communicate rabies when the +disease did not at that time exist. Such cases should not be passed by, +but thoroughly sifted by qualiled men, that the truth might be elicited and +the fears of the nervous allayed. The practical lesson to be learned from +this is, care and caution in dealing with dogs, especially strange ones, and +to curb unnecessary alarm, which often brings about the evil it would +avoid. When an accident does occur, have the wound promptly cauterized +to its full depth with caustic, and let nervous, in addition, obtain medical +advice. + +"I recommend those having much to do with dogs to carry in the +pocket at all times one of those wooden cases of caustic which costs but +sixpence, and with this safeguard about them, and the presence of mind +and nerve to use it promptly and thoroughly — taking care the caustic +reaches as deep as the tooth did — the bite even of a mad dog will do them +no harm. + +"Since the above was written, ten years ago, rabies in dogs has un- +fortunately been rather frequent, and a few years ago from the number +of deaths from hydrophobia, caused by the bites from mad dogs, quite a +panic arose, with the result that the attention of medical men and vet- +erarians at home and abroad has been very much directed to its nature; +as yet, however, no cure has been discovered, and I see no reason to +alter what I have already said; but it will be useful very briefly to notice +one or two points of special interest. Latest researches seem to point +conclusively that the rabid poison exists in the saliva, and in none of the +other secretions. + +"Although its propagation by a bite or by the poisoned saliva coming +in contact with an abraised or highly vascular surface are clearly enough +the means of transmission and propagation, how it originates is unknown; +exposure to great heat, feeding on salt meat, compelled abstinence from +water, and many other causes, have been suggested as a producing cause, +but proved not to be so. The old notion that it is peculiarly a disease of +the dog days, is fabulous, nor is it connected with the functions of procrea- +tion, further than the present law in this country permits owners of bitches +when in season to be fought over by excited males, furnishes excellent op- +portunities for its spread as well as being an insult to decency. It is the +duty of men who keep dogs to have some knowledge of their nature, and +the law should punish the ignorance or carelessness that causes an offense +and a danger to the public. + + + + +"Unfortunately no cures are yet known; such things as the Birling +and the Webb's cures, and other pretended family secrets may be swept +aside. Medical men have tried every conceivable drug, and a few years +ago it was thought that a specific had been found in curari, but it proved +delusive. Hot and vapor baths have their votaries, just as half drowning in +Crib, a pool in the Severn, was at one time believed in. + +"Preventive measures are alone to be relied on, and the very old one +of the Greeks, sucking the part, is excellent, and a small instrument has +been invented which can be easily used; it is like an old-fashioned breast +exhauster, with the bell-shaped head and long tube, but with a round bell +half way up the tube as well, which of course receives all that the operator +sucks out of the wound and renders him quite free from danger. It is +made by a chemist in York, and can be bought through Maw, Son & Com- +pany, Aldergate street, London." + +Here is a sensible article on hydrophobia, published in Man's Best +Friend, being an interview with 'John P. Haines, of New York City, the +President of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- +mals, a man who has had considerable experience: + +"Hydrophobia is one of the rarest of diseases, and it is the height of +folly to imagine that every dog that happens to suffer intensely from the +heat is either mad or in danger of going mad. A mad policeman is every +bit as dangerous as a mad dog, and probably in the past quite as many of +the former as of the latter have been mad." + +"Mr. Haines quotes from high authorities when he says that in ninety- +nine cases out of a hundred the poor brute which is destroyed while sup- +posedly in the throes of rabies is merely suffering from excitement which +will cur? itself, and that a person bitten by an animal under such circum- +stances is absolutely in no danger of serious results unless he permits him- +self to become a victim of his own disordered imagination. Mr. Haines is +himself authority for the statement that the cases of death from hydropho- +bia reported from time to time are wrongly diagnosed, and that, as a rule, +they result simply from worry. The weather has nothing to do with the +case, although no doubt dogs are less liable to sickness in cold weather than +during the hot spell, a state of affairs due perhaps almost as much to the +thoughtlessness or ignorance of their owners as to the weather conditions. + +"A dog that has been properly fed and is being so fed, will suffer +much less discomfort than another which has been stuffed with food calcu- +lated to heat the blood, and such a dog is, and especially when not over- +weight, far more liabel to escape illness than the fat, badly-conditioned +animal that is quite 'above himself,' and ready to go wrong at any time. + +"What are the dog days? They are the heated term in July and Au- +gust, during which dogs are supposed to be peculiarly liable to rabies, or +canine madness. That is one answer, but there is a better. There are no +dog days, because there is no time of the year when dogs are especially +liable to rabies. There are no more cases of rabies in July and August +than in December and January. Moreover, rabies is one of the rarest of +canine diseases. When you hear a cry of 'Mad Dog!' the chances are +many thousands to one that the dog is not mad. When you read in the +papers of someone being bitten by a mad dog the chances are thousands +to one it is not true. A person bitten by a mad dog is not doomed to +die a fearful death by hydrophobia. Not at all, for hydrophobia in a hu- +man being is much more rare than rabies in a dog. Expert physicians +who have given special attention to the subject are convinced that hydro- +phobia is never caused by the bite of a dog, but is simply a hysterical +nervous disease caused by an unfounded dread. Don't take this for grant- +ed; but remember these facts: + +"First, That there are more than a million chances to one that any +dog which is supposed to be mad is not mad at all; second, that, in all +probability, any dog by which a person may happen to be bitten is not +mad; and third, that even if a person is bitten by a dog that is really +mad, the danger of hydrophobia is very slight indeed. + +"If you will note the following facts you will probably find them to + + + +be quite different from the popular fancies by which most persons are mis- +led. It is supposed that a mad dog dreads water. It is not so. The mad +dog is very likely to plunge his head to the eyes in water, though he +cannot swallow it, and laps it with difficulty. It is supposed that a mad +dog runs about with evidences of intense excitement. It is not so. The. +mad dog never runs about in agitation; he never gallops; he is always +alone, usually in a strange .place, where he jogs along slowly. If he is +approached by a dog or man he shows no signs of excitement, but when +the dog or man is near enough he snaps and resumes his solitary trot. +If a dog barks, yelps, whines or growls, that dog is not mad. The only +sound a mad clog is ever known to emit is a hoarse howl, and that but +seldom. Even blows will not extort an outcry from a mad dog. There-' +fore*, if any dog, under any circumstances, utters any other sound than +that of a hoarse howl, that dog is not mad. It is supposed that the mad +dog froths at the mouth. It is not so. If a dog's jaws are covered or +flecked with white froth, that dog is not mad. The surest of all signs that +a dog is mad is a thick and ropy brown mucous clinging to his lips, which +he often tries vainly to tear away with his paws or wash away with wa- +ter. If your dog is bitten by any other dog, watch him carefully. If he +is infected by rabies you will discover signs of it possibly in from six to +ten days. Then he will be restless, often getting up only to lie down +again, changing his position impatiently, turning from side to side, and +constantly licking or scratching some part of his head, limbs or body. +He will be irritable and inclined to dash at other animals, and he will +sometimes snap at objects which he imagines to be near him. He will be +excessively thirsty, lapping water eagerly and often. Then there will be +glandular swellings about his jaws and throat, and he will vainly endeavor +to rid himself of a thick, ropy, mucous discharge from his mouth and +throat. If he can, he will probably stray away from home and trot slowly +and mournfully along the highway or across the country, meddling with +neither man nor beast, unless they approach him, and then giving a single +snap. The only exception to this behavior occurs in ferocious dogs, which, +during the earlier stage of excitement, may attack any living object in +sight. These symptoms of rabies are condensed from valuable information +received from physicians of undoubted authority." + +The following interesting article was written by Mrs. Sarah K. Bol- +ton, the eminent authoress, who has written many books on animals, and +who is a great friend of dogs, is clearly entitled to space in this book. +Mrs. Bolton's last book, "Our Devoted Friend, the Dog," should be read +by every dog lover. It is published by L. C. Page & Co., Boston, Mass.- +Send and get it. + +"Almost weekly or monthly in summer we have a 'mad dog' scare. +Some dog has been frothing at the mouth, which is never a sign of rabies, +but of sickness or a fit; is chased by a crowd and after crawling under +some porch or shed for protection, is killed by the random and numerous +shots of some policemen. + +"We ought to learn from the experience of others that there is very +little danger from the bite of a dog. Let any person ask a dozen men +if they have ever been bitten by a dog and probably more than half will +say yes, in boyhood or later in life, with no evil results whatever. + +"Dr. Gordon Stables, a prominent Englishman, says: 'All my life I +have been among dogs. I have written five books on them. I have han- +dled as many as 30,000 dogs a year. I have been bitten very often, and +care no more for a bite than I do for the scratch of a pin; yet I have +never seen a case of rabies, and I do not believe such exists.' + +"Surgeon General Thornton says: 'I have served in India for thirty- +five years, and was for many years in medical charge of a large Indian +district, with a population of 2,000,000. Six dispensaries where about +100,000 people were treated annually were under my superintendence, +yet, although dog bites were frequent, I never met a single case of hydro- +phobia in a native Indian, and I believe that the experience of others who +have been civil surgeons in India is similar to mine.' + + +19G iTYDROPITOmA. + +"Dr. Stockweii, a celebrated authority on dog disease, says: 'Distem- +per, toothache, earache, epilepsy and the whole class of nervous diseases to +which dogs are subject are constantly taken for rabies. Personally, after +moio than thirty years' experience as- a dog owner and student of canine +and comparative medicine, I have yet to meet with a genuine case of rabies +in the dog, and of some scores of so-called rabid dogs submitted to me +for inspection I have found one and all to be suffering from other and +comparatively innocent diseases.' + +"Dr. Charles W .Dulles, the eminent lecturer on the History of Medi- +cine at the University of Pennsylvania, says: 'After 16 years of investigation' +'he has failed to find a single case of hydrophobia 'that can be conclusively +proved to have resulted from the bite of a dog or any other cause.' + +Dr. Dulles says in regard to thej.reatment of a dog bite: "I am strong- +ly opposed to the practice of cauterizing with silver nitrate. I have seen +and treated very many dog bites, and have not used lunar caustic for 13 +years, and no person that I have treated has yet developed hydrophobia, +or that the mortality of those treated by me is less than that of those +treated in Pasteur institutes. My treatment is simply through surgical +cleaning and the application of a simple antiseptic dressing for a few +days, with the positive assurance that there will be no danger of any dis- +ease." + +Dr. Irving C. Rosse says in a paper read before the American Neuro- +logical Association, Philadelphia, June 3, 1895: "In Asia Minor and in +Constantinople, the home of pariah dogs, one never hears of hydrophobia. +The secretary of the Japanese legation in Washington tells me that he has +never known of the disease in Japan, and that in Korea, with more dogs +than any other country, such a thing as hydrophobia is unheard of. In +London, with its five and one-half million inhabitants? but one case was +reported in 1892." + +Dr. Dulles finds from statistics gathered in the United States, that +there is only one hydrophobia case to four million inhabitants. Of 267 per- +sons in the U. S. bitten by dogs supposed to be rabid, he says only eight +persons have died. • + +Many of the best physicians recommended hot water baths for dog +bites, as is done in India, rather than the Pasteur system, with its great +expense and doubtful results. Professor Peter, the able editor of the French +Medical Journal, says: "M. Pasteur does not cure hydrophobia — he gives +it!" A physician describes the system as the "inoculating usually wholly +uncontaminated human beings with the most terrible virus known to science +— to-wit, that of hydrophobia." + +"The Pasteur advocates admit that only from 5 to 10 per cent of per- +sons bitten by a rabid animal ever have hydrophobia, with no treatment +whatever. The writer of this article has been bitten several times, and +would never allow the wound to be cauterized. + +"Even if there be such a disease as hydrophobia in man, which is +probably blood poisoning ( a thorn of a rose, the prick of a pin, the scratch +of a baby's finger nail, the point of a lead pencil stuck behind the ear, the +cut on the neck of a stiff linen collar have all produced blood poisoning), +and if there be such a disease as rabies in a dog, which is probably dis- +temper or epilepsy, it does not seem to be found among the homeless or +unlicensed dogs, or those that roam the streets, which are the ones killed +from the cruel supposition that they especially are dangerous. + +"Dr. Matthew Woods, of Philadelphia, says: 'At the Philadelphia dog +pound, where, on an average, over 6,000 vagrant dogs are taken up an- +nually, and where the catchers and helpers are frequently bitten, not one +case of hydrophobia has occurred during its entire history of 2 5 years, in +which time 150,000 dogs have been handled.' + +"At the dog shelter in New York City the Superintendent told me he +had been bitten over a hundred times and paid no attention to it what- +ever. In killing 50,000 unlicensed dogs each year, to the great shame of an +indifferent money-getting city, New York has not found one case of rabies. +London, Eng., kills nearly the same number, and has not seen a case + + +among its unlicensed clogs. Among the thousands of dogs killed after the +brutal muzzling order in Washington, n. C, last year not one case of rabies +was found. Let the poor people keep dogs. They are good companions for +their children, and do not lead to the workhouse or the jail. They are the +best guard for our houses where there are no police; indeed cheaper than +policemen, and usually more easily found when wanted. We spend money +to give playgrounds and entertainments for children, and that Is well, but +their dogs give them more comfort, usually, than almost any other one +thing, as boys and girls will universally testify. + +"Let the dogs live. The cars will necessarily kill some. They are not +long lived at the best. They give us devotion, companionship, and ought +to make us kinder and more gentle, from their helplessness and dependence +upon us. They are good friends, to some very unfeeling people. Do not +chain them up. Repeal our cruel laws. Let us, a professedly Christian city, +be as humane as the unchristian Turk, or the worshipers of Buddha in +India. Let us honor ourselves by doing justice to the speechless. Let the +dogs live." + +Here I give a cure for hydrophobia, a clipping, from a paper: + +"The time between the biting of an animal by a mad dog and the show- +ing signs of hydrophobia is not less than nine days, but may be nine months. +After the animal has become rabid the scratch of a tooth upon a person or +slobber coming in contact with a sore, or raw place, will produce hydropho- +bia just the same as if bitten by a mad dog. + +"Hydrophob'a can be prevented, and I will give what is known to be +an infallible remedy for man and beast if properly administered. A dose +for a horse or cow should be four times as much as for a person. It is +not too late to give the medicine any time before the spasms come on. +The dose for a person is one and one-half ounces of elecamnane root bruised, +put in a pint of new milk, reduced one-half by boil'ng; take all at once in +the morning, fasting until the afternoon, or at least a very light diet until +several hours are passed. The second dose same as first, except take two +ounces of the root. The third same as the second. Three doses are all +that are needed and there need be no fear, as I know from my own experi- +ence, and know of numbers of cases where it was entirely successful. This +is no guesswork. The persons alluded to had been bitten by their own dogs, +which were then tied up to see if they were really mad. They proved to be +mad and the remedy was successful. A physician told me he had known +of the use of this remedy for over thirty years and never knew it to fail +when properly administered. He related a case where a number of cows +were bitten, and penned half in one pen and half in another; to half the +remedy was given and were saved. The other half died from hydrophobia." + +Let us not become insane on the hydrophobia question. Let the dogs +have plenty of water, don't tie them up in hot weather, and don't make the +poor animals chase for miles after a bicycle, carriage or electric car on a hot +•and dusty road. If there is a spectacle humiliating to those who wish to +respect their fellow man. it is the sight of a dog, in the last stages of ex- +haustion, struggling to keep up with some vehicle upon which his selfish +master is taking his ease, unmindful of ils misery. + +The following article was written by D. E. Salmon, D. V. M., Chief of +the Bureau of Animal Industry, in the Yearbook of the Department of +Agriculture, issued at Washington, D. C, and as will be seen, he is a firm +believer in rabies. I reproduce it as authority from the other side of the +question. + +This is the concluding speech to the jury by the "Prosecuting Attorney," +whose duty it is to always find the prisoner guilty: + +"The symptoms of rabies are such as we should expect from serious +disease of the central organs of the nervous system: F'rsr, Irritation; sec- +ond, paralysis and death. The rabies virus appears to have little effect upon +the system until it reaches the brain and spinal cord. There it multiplies, +sets up irritation, and finally interrupts the functions. + +"Rabies is generally divided into two forms: First, furious rabies; +second, dumb rabies. In the former the animal is irritable, aggressive, and +bites nearly every object which comes its way; in the latter the muscles of +its jaw are paralyzed almost from the first appearance of symptoms, and +being unable to bite, the animal remains more quiet and tranquil. Essen- +tilly the. two forms of the disease are the same, but owing to the parts +of the brain attacked and the acuteness of the attack, paralysis appears +much sooner in one of these forms than in the other. The saliva from a +case of dumb rabies is just as dangerous and virulent as that from a case +of furious rabies. The dogs with dumb rabies are less dangerous simply +because they are unable to bite and thus insert their saliva into a wound. + +"The impression should not be formed that dumb rabies and furious +rabies always represent two distinct types of disease, and that one may at +a glance classify every case as belonging to one or the other of these types. +Quite the contrary. The typical cases belong to the two extremes of symp- +toms, and there are all graduations between the two. In fact, almost every +case of furious rabies sooner or later change into the dumb form, that is, +the final stage of rabies is almost invariably paralytic, and the dumb form +in its typical development occurs when the paralysis appears on the first day +of the disease. The paralysis may not appear, however, until the second, +or third, or some subsequent day. + +"Again ,a dog does not necessarily bite everything about it even though +it has rabies and its jaws are not paralyzed. It may be combative and +furious all of the time, or only a part of the time, or not at all. There is +no disease in which the symptoms vary more than in rabies of the dog, +and it is, consequently, impossible in any description of moderate length +to give an idea of the different forms under which it may appear. + +Furious Rabies. + +"Fleming has well said that it is a great and dangerous error to sup- +pose that the disease commences with signs of raging madness, and that +the earliest phase of the malady is ushered in with fury and destruction. +The symptoms appear very gradually, and at first there is only the slightest +evidence of brain disease. The animal's habits and behavior are changed. +It may be more restless and affectionate than usual, seeking to be near its +master or mistress, fawning, licking the hands or face", and apparently seek- +ing for sympathy or assistance. Such caresses are, however, extremely +dangerous, for the animal's tongue, moist with virulent saliva, coming in +contact with a part where the skin is thin, abraded, or wounded, may fatally +infect the person with whom it is endeavoring to demonstrate its affection. +The smallest abrasion may be, as Bouley has impressively said, a door +opened to death; and such a death! The instances in which hydrophobia +has developed from such inoculations are very numerous, and everyone +should be warned against this kiss of affection, which carries with it not +only death, but sufferings which are far more to be dreaded than the fatal . +termination. + +"In most cases dogs first become dull, gloomy, morose, taciturn, seek- +ing solitude and isolation in out-oMhe-way places, or retiring under pieces +of furniture. But in this retirement they can not rest; they are uneasy +and agitated; they lie down and assume the attitude of repose, but in a +few minutes are up again, walking hither and thither, 'seeking rest, but +finding none.' Occasionally this restlessness may disappear for a time, and +the animal become lively and affectionate; oftener it sinks into a sullen +gloominess, from which even its master's voice rouses it but temporarily. +It becomes more and more desperate in its efforts to prepare a comfortable +bed, pawing or scattering the straw, or, if in a house, scratching, tumbling +and tearing cushions, rugs, curtains, carpets and everything of that kind +within its reach. + +"At this period dogs may have aberrations of the senses, of the sight, +hearing, and feeling, which cause hallucinations and lead them to think +that they are being annoyed by something, or that some animal or person +is endeavoring to injure them. They crouch, ready to spring upon an ene- + + + +my; they rush forward and snap at the air; they throw theselves, howling +and furious, against a wall, as though they heard sounds beyond it. + +"While at first the affected dog may not be disposed to bite, it be- +comes more dangerous as his hallucinations and delirium increase. The +voice of the master or of an acquaintance may dispel the aberrations tem- +porarily and lead him to friendly demonstrations, but an unexpected move- +ment or touch may bring on another access and lead to a quick and un- +expected bite. + +"The disturbance of the sensations leads to chills and itching. If the +place where the bite occurred is accessible the dog licks the scar, and +later bites and tears the tissues. This tearing of the flesh is not always +confined to the site of the inoculation, but certain regions of the body +appear to lose their sensitiveness, and at the same time to convey to the +brain the sensation of itching. The animal in this case bites into its own +flesh with apparent pleasure and satisfaction. + +Such animals take food until the disease is considerably advanced, +if it is something which can be swallowed without mastication; other- +wise it is dropped after remaining a short time in the mouth. + +"Difficulty in swallowing is an early symptom, and frequently leads +the unsuspecting owner to conclude that the animal has a bone in his +throat. A dog which appears to have a bone in his throat is on general +principles one of the most dangerous animals in existence. The supposed +bone may be there, but on the other hand the symptoms which lead to this +supposition may be due to partial paralysis caused by rabies, and the owner +may be inoculated with the virulent saliva while thrusting his finger or +hand in the dog's mouth to discover a bone which has no existence but in +his imagination. + +"It is commonly believed that mad dogs have fear of water and are +unable to drink, but there could be no greater mistake. In this respect they +differ entirely from the human patient. They have no fear or dread of +water, but continue to drink until paralysis has progressed so far that +they are no longer able to swallow. The fact that a suspected dog is +seen to drink or to wade into a stream is consequently no evidence that +he is not mad. + +"When the furious symptoms come on, the dog leaves his home and +goes upon a long chase, with no apparent object in view other than to be +traveling onward. He trots at a rapid pace, eye haggard, tail depressed, +indifferent to his surroundings. He flies at and bites dogs and persons +whom he meets, but usually does not apparently search for them, or even +notice them if they remain quiet. Dogs in this condition may travel many +miles, and finally drop from exhaustion and die. Often after an absence +of a day or two they return to their home, exhausted, emaciated, covered +with dust and blood, and presenting a most forlorn and miserable appear- +ance. Those who have pity for such an animal and try to make it clean +and comfortable, are in great danger of being bitten, for the disease has +advanced to a point where the delirium or insanity is most marked, and +where a treacherous bite is most common. Doubtless the clog has no in- +tention of injuring a friend, and would not do so did he net see that +friend transformed by his disordered vision into some distorted and un- +recognizable shape, which he thinks is about to injure him. But while +we may give the dog due credit for not intentionally and deliberately +inoculating his friends with his fatal virus, let us not forget that the +inoculation is no less deadly because it is the result of the abnormal working +of a disordered mind. Whatever the sentiment may be which leads the dog +to turn upon his master or mistress and inflict an injury, the duty remains +the same for the owner to take due precautions to prevent such an oc- +currence. + +"If the animal, instead of being allowed to escape, is kept confined, +the paroxysms of fury are seen to occur intermittently, or, in the absence +of provacation, they may be entirely wanting. If excited, it howls, rushes +upon objects that are thrust toward it, or throws itself against the bars of +its cage and bites with great fury. + + + +"As death approaches, the animal becomes exhausted and scarcely +able to stand; the eyes are dull and sunken, and the expression is that of +pain and despair. Paralysis appears in the jaws or in the posterior ex- +tremities and extends rapidly to other parts of the body. The animal, be- +ing unable to stand, lies extended upon its side; the respiration becomes +more and more difficult; there are spasmodic contractions of certain groups +of muscles, complete prostration, and death. + +"The ordinary course of the disease is four or five days; it may be +as short as two or as long as ten days. + +Dumb Rabies. + +"When this form of the disease is typical, it comes on with restless- +ness, depression, a tendency to lick objects, and. paralysis of the muscles, +which close the jaws. As a consequence of the paralysis, the lower jaw +drops, the animal is unable to close the mouth, the tongue hangs out, and +an abundance of saliva escapes. The mucous membrane of the mouth be- +comes dry, discolored, and covered with dust. The animal remains quiet, +does not respond to provocations, and appears to understand its helpless- +ness. As Bouley has said, the animal cannot bite and does not desire to bite. + +"When dumb rabies follows a period in which the animal has been +affected with the furious form, the desire and tendency to bite may be" +retaine deven after the jaw is paralyzed. + +"The course of the disease is short, death usually occurring in from +two to four days. + +"The dumb form of rabies is very common, and many persons know +it as 'drop jaw' who have no idea of its true nature. + +"Many of the common mistakes with reference to rabies arise from +an imperfect knowledge of the symptoms. It is on this point that there +is greatest need of educational work. Bouley has most earnestly warned +us to 'distrust. a dog when it shows signs of illness; every sick dog should +as a rule be suspected; more particularly distrust a dog when it be- +comes dull, morose and seeks for solitude, which appears not to know +where to rest, which is always on the move, prowling, snapping at the +air, and suddenly barking at nothing when all around is perfectly still, +whose countenance is somber, and only assumes its usual animated ex- +pression by brief starts; beware of the dog that seeks and scrapes inces- +santly, and exhibits aggressive movements against phantoms; and, finally, +beware, above all, of the dog which has become too fond of you, and is +continually endeavoring to lick the hands or face." + +The Period of Incubation of Rabies. + +The period of incubation of a contagious disease is the time which +elapses between the inoculation or exposure and the appearance of the first +symptoms. With rabies this period varies remarkably. It may be as short +as six or seven days, and it occasionally exceeds one hundred days. In +rare cases it has been reported on good authority that a year, or even +fourteen months, elapsed between the time the animal was bitten and the +time when the disease manifested itself. The majority of cases develop +in from three to seven weeks. + +During the greater part of the period of incubation the infected animal +is healthy, and would not cause disease in any animal or person which it +bites. The saliva may become virulent, however, two or three days before +the appearance of the first symptoms, and any animal or person bitten after +the contagion has contaminated the saliva is, of course, liable to contract +the disease. + +There is a very erroneous and rather stupid belief, quite common, to +the effect that if a dog bites a person and becomes mad at any time +thereafter the person so bitten will contract hydrophobia. This fallacy +may have arisen from some Instance In which a person had been bitten + + + +within a few days of the appearance of the symptoms of disease in the +dog, and when the saliva was already virulent. However this may be, +it is perfectly certain that a dog can not convey this disease when he +does not have it or before he has himself contracted it. If, therefore, a +dog does not show symptoms of rabies within a week from the time the +bite is inflicted there is no danger of the person contracting the disease. +The only possibility of an exception to this rule is the very doubtful one, +that in extremely rare instances a dog may have rabies and recover from +it without showing characteristic symptoms. A very few cases of this +kind have been observed among dogs artificially inoculated, but it has +not yet been shown that their saliva became virulent, or that similar cases +occur under natural conditions. The fact remains, however, that a person +is in no danger of contracting rabies because a healthy dog has bitten him, +which dog is afterward inoculated with rabies." + +The following — that I found in some paper, is too good to leave out +of this book: + +"It is a pleasure to note that Superintendent Frael of the New York +Department of Health comes out flat-footed regarding the extreme rarity +of rabies, asserting that what people suffer from is false or pseudo rabies +brought about by scare. He draws attention to the fact that during the +life of the New York Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which +was started in 1894, no less than three millions of dogs and cats have been +handled. That the employes engaged in the work of collecting the strays +number about thirty, and on an average everyone of them is bitten four +times every month, or fifty times a year, and that some of the dogs' were +subsequently declared by the local authorities to be rabid. On this basis +of computation there has been thirty thousand bites by all sorts of ani- +mals and one hundred and fifty different men have been employed during +the twenty years, yet not a single case of hydrophobia has resulted, all that +the men did being to cleanse the wound thoroughly and have it dresseu. + +Of course, we clog people, those of us who have had the greatest ex- +perience Avith dogs, have always held similar views, and your correspon- +dent's very simple remedy has for years been to turn the water faucet on +the wound, so as to thoroughly cleanse it, and while this is being done, +get someone to take bicarbonate of soda, always to be found in every house- +hold, or if not, then common baking powder, and make a creamy paste, +which spread on a clean piece of linen and put that on the wound and then, +bind it. After a while the emulsion will dry, but pour a little water on +the binding, so as to soak to the dressing, and that will do. You will +have no feeling of anything wrong and there is little question that it is +this feeling of something wrong that causes this pseudo-hydrophobia. + +Dog men cannot be too emphatic in telling people not to be afraid +of a dog bite, and if the United States would only pass a law to hang, +draw and quarter every managing editor of a paper that published a mad +dog story, every doctor who told a patient or suggested to a patient the +possibility of hydrophobia and towed the Pasteur institutes out to the +middle of the Atlantic and sunk them with all hands, that would end +rabies and the hydrophobia scare." + +And now read this: ' + +"The late Dr. Michel Peter, the greatest clinical expert of France, +said: 'Pasteur does not prevent hydrophobia; he gives it.' This opinion +was indorsed by such scientific leaders as Dr. T. M. Dalon, F. R. C. S., Sir +Benjamin Ward Richardson, Dr. Charles Bell-Taylor, Surgeon-General +Charles Gordon, of England, and Professor VonFrisch, of Vienna. The +celebrated Dr. A. Lutaud, editor-in-chief of the 'Jouranl de Medecine de +Paris,' said in that journal on September 16, 1899, referring to the savants +at the Pasteur Institute: 'They have not diminished the mortality; they +have augmented it, in creating the 'madness of laboratories,' very often +fatal, with which they have inoculated a great number of individuals.' " + + + + +THE LAST GREAT CASE OF HYDROPHOBIA. + +The man who wrote the following, that I found in a magazine called +"Everything," and I wish I knew the author's name, so as to credit him +properly, (and also to shake his hand, has a great brain, and full of com- +mon sense), so here's the article, well worth reading: + +"For one time in six thousand years as far as history records one +man suffered death from hydrophobia caused by a dog licking his hand. +That is the story sent out and that is the story that has caused the world +to talk and inspired newspapers to write terrible head lines about what to +expect next. We do not believe that any man ever died from hydrophobia +caused by a dog licking his hand. In truth, outside of those who make +their money in that way there is grave doubt as to whether there is any +such thing as hydrophobia outside the patient's mind. If a man can be +hypnotized by another man and made to think that he is a dog; and bark +and howl; or be made to think he is a millionaire or a dancing master, as +people have been hypnotized, then a man can hypnotize himself, if he has +the power of hypnotism, and it is not a far cry to believe that a man who +has been bitten or a man who never saw a dog can hypnotize himself and +make believe that he has rabies, so-called and so defined; and die in the +throes of agony. + +In a recent number of Dumb Animals, that sterling paper published +by George T. Angel, a writer in some other newspaper was copied. His +name was J. M. Greene, and his article was addressed to The Editor of the +Tribune and is worth reading. We do not know anything about the Pasteur +Institute he describes, but we do know that hydrophobia is essentially ex- +aggerated. Mr. Greene said: + +"Much has been written lately in the press regarding the great dan- +ger from the prevalence of 'hydrophobia' in New York city and elsewhere, +and much more of the same terror will doubtless be written before the +season is far advanced. Will you allow me a brief space for a few ideas +on this subject? + +"In the first place, if there be any one point absolutely certain and +established, it is that the danger of getting the above disease has been +greatly exaggerted, and that the great majority of alleged cases, of not +only 'hydrophobia' in man, but also 'rabies' in the dog, have been cases of +some other disease. It is also easy to see whence comes the influence +causing this dread and delusion. The year following the opening of the +first 'Pasteur Institute' in Paris, in 1885, the number of 'hydrophobia' pa- +tients treated in that city leaped to three thousand; previous to that, Paris +could boast of only about thirty 'cases' a year! True 'hydrophobia' is a +disease so rare that it is not considered worth mentioning in mortality re- +ports. Well known medical investigators who have been searching for +many years for authentic cases have failed to find one. Such are Dr. +Lutaud, of Paris; Dr. Bell-Taylor, of England; Dr. Charles W. Dulles, of +Philadelphia; Dr. E. C. Spitzke, of New York; Professor J. W. Hearn, +of Philadelphia; Dr. Hiram Corson and Dr. Thomas Mayo. It is a notor- +ious fact that, all over the world, societies and institutes that have the +handling of thousands of vicious dogs, frequently biting their keepers, +never hear of the disease. + +"But spurious cases, caused by nervous dread, are common. As in +the case of Mme. Chevalier, of Paris, instances have occurred from 'sug- +gestion' alone, where the patient has not been bitten at all! Such cases, it is +no injustice to say, are the product of the morbid fear disseminated and +fostered by 'Pasteur Institutes.' These concerns do a great business +throughout the world. But on what basis? I have before me a record, +carefully revised from year to year, which shows that up to January +1st of the present year 1,857 deaths from 'hydrophobia' have occurred +among patients who have undergone the 'Pasteur treatment' according +to directions, in many of which cases the animals which did the biting +remained alive and well! In this record names, dates, and other particu- +lars are given. + + + +"The 'Pasteur method' depends for its commercial success on the +most colossal pretensions and distortion of facts and figures. Among its +'patients' are numbered those bitten by 'rabid' dogs and those bitten by +animals only 'suspected!'. Again, dogs are often 'found' to have been +rabid by postmortem examination and by inoculating other animals with +portions of their brain or spinal cord, both of which methods are denounced +as inconclusive by leading scientists, such as Dr. Colin, of Alfort, and Pro- +fessor Fleming, of England. Many substances, such as common soap, +when inoculated into animals, produce meningitis, the symptoms of which +are almost identical with those of rabies; Surgeon-General Sternberg has +even produced these symptoms in rabbits with his own saliva! Moreover, +it is well known that, with no treatment whatever, from 90 to 9 5 per cent +of those bitten by actually 'rabid' dogs recover. All these facts tend to +show that the statistics of the 'Pasteur Institutes' are absolutely farcical, +and as a consequence they are ridiculed by every leading scientific author- +ity who has carefully investigated, and who charge them with actually +causing 'hydrophobia' in many patients by their inoculations with diseased +animal matter. This pernicious and most dangerous principle of deliber- +ately introducing into the life-current septic matter from 'rabid' animals, +has without doubt been the cause of numerous cases of 'paralytic rabies' +or 'laboratory rabies' in patients. The late Dr. Michel Peter, the greatest +clinical expert in France, said: 'Pasteur does not prevent hydrophobia; +he gives it.' This opinion was indorsed by such scientific leaders as Dr. +T. M. Dalon, F. R. C. S., Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, Dr. Charles +Bell-Taylor, Surgeon-General Charles Gordon, of England, and Professor +Von Frish, of Vienna. The celebrated Dr. A. Lutaud, editor-in-chief of the +'Journal de Medecine de Paris,' said in that journal on September 16, +1899, referring to the savants at the Pasteur Institute: "They have not +diminished the mortality; they have augmented it, in causing the 'mad- +ness of laboratories,' very often fatal with which they have inoculated a +great number of individuals.' + +"As the clanger of 'hydrophobia' in man has been viciously exag- +gerated, so has been that of 'rabies' in the dog. It is safe to say that at +least 99 out of every 100 alleged cases are cases of ill treatment, heat +prostration, fits, thirst, stomach trouble, epilepsy, or similar affections. +A dog with true 'rabies' does not froth at the mouth; neither does he go +out of his way to attack, but gives every indication of wishing to be let +alone. These facts, however, have no weight with some people, whose +arrogance and bigotry regarding our relation to the 'lower animals' pass +comprehension. One swears the life of one child is 'worth all the dogs in +the world;' another would have all the clogs in the state muzzled on ac- +count of one case of alleged 'rabies.' Man spends his life in abusing and +slaughtering his fellow-creatures; but, for-sooth, if some unfortunate mem- +ber of that species most faithful to man, wild with ill treatment, or the +disease above mentioned, rushes he knows not whither, beset by imagin- +ary foes, then Man joyfully seizes the opportunity to attack the sufferer +with every convenient weapon, as in former days, under like conditions, +he treated his fellow-man! And then, if bitten by his victim, he resorts +to an 'institute,' founded on and perpetuating the horrible sufferings of +artificially maddened creatures (a supply of which, in a state of madness +is constantly kept on hand, whether 'used' or not), whose poisoned tissues +he absorbs into his circulation as an antidote. Is not this a specacle for +Gods and men?" + +There is no doubt in this world but what two-thirds of the Na- +tional Belly-aching is the direct result of imagination. There is no doubt +but what if a man can hypnotize another man, if he has the power he +can and does hypnotize himself, and if this be true, and it is an accepted +truth, then all some nerve-wracked fellow has to do who insists that some- +thing is the matter with him, is to imagine that a clog bit him and then +keep following up the idea and finally die like a dog might die with +rabies. That is the long and the short of the matter in this world + + +where Wall-Eyed Science is on the make and whe«re men must earn their +bread. + +The man who owns pets and loves his pets is a bigger man and a +better man than the narrow souled and incomprehensible creature who +is too stingy to feed them or too mean to want to give them a place after +God Almighty formed and fashioned them and sent them here for some +good purpose. + +Hydrophobia is a dream — a self hypnotic state aided and abated by +those who want to cash the coin. That's all. + +I hope my readers have read all of the many pages devoted to hydro- +phobia, (and these pages could have been put in this book-as advertise- +ments at $35.00 per page just as well,) as there was no trouble in getting +the ads — but this book was written to do good to dogs — and their owners — +much in preference to the profits in coin — because it is — has been — and +will be my highest aim in life, to do good to dogs — the best, truest, and +faithful friend we have — four legs instead of two. \ No newline at end of file