The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-10-21

One could almost suppose that hydropbo.
oia, IN certain modified form, was an en-
demic IN human society as well as amongst
dogs. The lower portions Of the commn.
nity, IN particular, seem to consider them.
selves as having prescriplive right to suE
fer from II. The diagnosis of the malady in
the human patient does not point to catas-
tfoPhe altogether so abrupt and tragical as
IN the canine, but it is attended by circum-
stances quite as sinister. Dirty faces. dirty
clothes, dirty houses, dirt all over, are the
symptoms which most forcibly arrest atten-
ton; and yet bad as these are. we know
that there are worse effects underneath the
surface for where physical dirt goes, there
also resides moral degradation.
We know Of no country in Europe
where there Is so little disposition on the
part OF the people, as in ours, to give them
selves even that exhilarating kind Of ablu-
ion which is derived from bathing. At the
present season, the traveller on the conti.
nent hnds the rivers alive with swimmers.
and we remember, when sailing down the
Lore TO Nantes, observing the steamer fire.
quently surrounded, more especially when
nearing the great manufacturing city, with
crowds OF black heads, and white should
ers. In Russia, where the people have not
got beyond the middle ages the lower
classes do not yet know the use of a shirt
but wear il above their trousers in the form
OF a kilt. They have not, however. aban.
doned the bath. Towards the end of the
week, they feel pnckly and uncomEorta.
bic sensation in their skin, and at length
rush eagerly into the hot steam. and boiling
Out the impurities Of the preceding six DAYS,
begin late again with new vigor. In sum.
mer, they do not wait for days and times.
our merely get up an hour earlier, and dash
into the neaTest. pond or river. In our ref
ned country, dirt causes no uneasiness. II
IS allowed to harden upon the skin. choke
up the pores, and contsminate the whole be-
ing, moral and physical. Ii blunts the
senses to such degree, that the husband
does not detect it in the wife, nor the moth.
er IN the child. All are alike. All have
forfeited the dignity Of human nature. and
sunk into lower scale of animal e,ist-
ence.
While mentioning the custom that pre-
Vsils IN Russia we are struck with the proof
afforded there Of the connection between
moral and physical cleanliness. The state
OF the bath-house Of the hamlet is an unfail. |
ing index TO the character and position Of
the inhabitants. II il is neat and trim. the
people are good and happy, and their feudal |
lord KIND and considerste; If poor and ru- |
inous, there is tyranny on the one hand
misery on the other, and deprayity on both.
In respect Of its contagiousness. or incl.
nation TO spread, the human malady seems
not bit behind the canine, although Ger.
tsInly the immediate symptoms are less viz.
ulent. Ii has been implied that the stain
oil dirt extends from the skin of the ind.
vidual over his life and conversation. But
II does more than that; it contaminates his
family; 1t daubs his neighbors; it forms a
nucleus round which impurity gathers, and
strengthens, and spreads. Insignificant AT
first IN itself, it becomes a social evil of i'm.
Portance. Ii is one Of the units which gives
ITS character to the aggregate; and. rising
out oil thing which at first was only scorn-
ed from good taste, Stunned from individual
repugnance, or laughed at out of sheer folly.
we see spreading over the land, vice. mis-
cry, pestilence, and death. Yet we observe
the symptoms Of this formidable disease
with CLASSY and Indifferent eve. while
those Of canine hydrophobia inspire us with
horror and alarm, and drive us to dog-mur.
der in selfdefencel /,
The dread of water is seen in the human
subject in another form, in which il is at.
tended by different class of effects-dif
isfent but not very unremotely allied TO the
preceding. Almost everywhere the use of
water as beverage appears to be felt as
sort oil original doom, designed as a penal. I
~ for the sins of mankind; and everywhere +
are efforts made TO disguise it in some way. :
70 that the patient may be made to believe +
ne IS swallowing something else. Much n
ingenuity has been expended upon this Gu y
nous process; but, in certain conditions of d
'ociety. II seems to be Of little consequence d
what taste IS superadded, or by what means v
me suPeraddIton is made. The grand n
hing is tTansnogTi6cafion. Amongst the !,
poorer classes in China, a decoction ofl n
cabbage leaves is felt as a relief: amongst y
he upper, the tinctuce OF the more elegsn, :;
ea-iesi IS employed. In the.western world ',
ne refuse oil fruit and grain, subjected 20 I,
and disabling, is brought in,o T
equistlon. The Norman converts his pood q,
:lder into execrable brandy; the other :,
french maltreat their wine in a similar II
Vay' in Russia, the sickening quass be- Fl
ONES the msddening votki; in Scotland. "
onest two-penny is sublimated into whisky: ,r
md so on, throughout the whole habirabie h.
world. That this sort Of hydrophobia is 81
merely modification Of the other is estab-
l'hed by the fact, that they who most ali.
or water as cleanser, abhor it most as a mi
rnk. A cieanly person viii frequently ity