Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1848-12-22
Human Hydrephobia.

bia, in a certain modified form, was an ep-
idemic in human society, as well as among
dogs The lower portions Of the commu-
nifty in particular, seem TO consider them
selves as having prescriptive right 10 SUI.
fer from il. The diagnosis Of the mslady
in the human patient does no, point 10
catastrophe altogether so abrupt aud trag.
ical as in the canine, but 1t is attended by
circumstances quite as sinister. Dirty
faces, dirty clothes. dirty houses. dirt all
over, are the symptoms which most forci-
bly, arrest attention; aud yet, bad as these
are, we know that there are worse effects
underneath the surface, for where physical
dirt goes, there also resides moral degradn-
ton.
We know OF no country in Europe
where there is so little disposition on the
part Of the people, as in ours, 10 give them
selves even that exhilarating kind Of ablu-
ton which is derived from bathing. AT
the presen, season, the traveller on the Con-
iinent finds the rivers alive with swimmers,
and we remember them swimming down
the Loire to Nantes, observing the steamer
frequently surrounded, more especially
when nearing the great manufacturing city,
with crowds OF black heads and white
shoulders. In Russia, where the people
have not got beyond he Middle Ages, the
lower classes do not yet know the use Of
shirt, but wear il above their trowsers in the
form OF a kilt. They have not, however,
abandoned the bath. Towards the end OF
the week they feel prickly and uncomlort-
able sensation in their skin, and at length
al hot ain
ing out the impurities Of the preceding six
days, begin life again with new vigor. In
summer they do not wait for days and times,
but merely get up an hour earlier and dash
into the nearest pond or river. In our re-
fined country, dirt causes no unessness.-
II is allowed 10 harden upon the skin. choke
up the pores, and contamlnate the whole
being, moral and physical. II blunts the
senses TO such degree, that the husband
does not detect il 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 existence
While mentioning the custom that pre-
walls in Russia, we are struck with the
proof afforded there Of the connection be-
tween moral and physical cleanliness
The state Of the bath house Of the hamlet
is an unfailing index TO the character and
position Of the inhabitants. If IL is neat
and trim, the people are good and happy,
and their feudal lord kind and considerable
If poor and ruinous, there is tyranny on
the one hand, misery on the other, aud de-
pravity on both.
In respect Of its eontagiousness, OF in
clination TO spread, the human malady
seems not Bit behind the canine, although
certainly the immediate symptoms are less
viruleni II has been implied that the stain
OF dirt extends from the skin Of the indi-
yidual over his life and conversation. But
il does more than that il contaminates
his family; il daubs his neighbors; it forms
a nuceous round which impurity gathers,
and strengthens, and spreads. Insignificant
at first in itself, il becomes social evil Of
importance I. is enc Of the units which
gives its character to the aggregate; and,
rising out of thing which at first was on.
ly scorned from good taste, Stunned from
individual repugnance, or laughed at oui
of sheer folly, we see spreading over the
land, vice. misery. pes,ilence and death
Yet we observe the symptoms Of this for
midable disease with CLASSY and indifier
ent eye, while those Of canine hydrophobiI
inspire Us with horror and alarm, and drive
US to dog-murder in self defence!
The dread Of water is seen in the human
subject in another form, in which il is at
tended by different class Of efiects-dlf
ferent. but not very unremotely allied TO tn
preceding. Almost everywhere the use o
water as beverage appears 10 be felt as
sort Of original doom, designed as penal
ty for the sins Of mynkiud and every
where are efforts made to disguise it il
some way, SO that the patient may be mad
to believe that he is swallowing something
else. Much ingenuity has been expende'
upon this curious process; but in certaiI
conditions Of society it seems 10 be Of lii
tie consequence what taste is superadded
or by what means the superaddilion is made
The grand thing is transmogrifeatisn.-
Among the poorer classes in China, de
coction Of cabbage leaves is fell, as relief
among the upper, the tincture OF the NOR
elegant tea leaf is employed In the West
ern world, the refuse Of fruit and grain
subjected 10 fermentation and distilling,
brought into requisition. The Norma
converts his good cider into execrable bran
dy the other French malireat their win
IN similar way; In Russia the sickenn
: quass becomes the maddening yoikii !
Scotland, honest two-penny is sublmate
into whiskey; and so on, throughout III
whole habtable world. That this sort {
hydrophoba is merely a modification {
e the other, is established by the fact thu
n they who most abhor water as cleanser
; abhor il most as drink A clearly pc
4 son will frequently condescend 10 take
!. draught Of the pure element with his meul'
but you never saw a man with dirty fac
/. who would not greatly prefer some poison
+ Gus and i'll tasting compound. Al the 4
bles Of the upper classes you find the W
Ter karaff most in demand; at those Of II
I lower classes the beer jug. The quality
' the beer is Of no consequence. We new,
8 knew il so freely drank in our own neig
. borhood as at a time (some twenty yea
ago), when the sole effect Of the worth
brewers manufacture was declared to
: to spoil the pater. Even among the a
a stainers from these deleterous liquor
!, there are many who must still have the
/; water disguised; hence their extensive pa
. IL atu0ar.haaK ,,I -,