St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-06-26
Terrible Death Of Butler. the Dog
Fancier.

The death of Francis Butler. il well
known dog tancicr. and author of books
on dogs. from hydrophotia. in Broollliu
WAS Il terrible affair. For quarter nt Il
century Mr. Butler has been Il sort of
authority on all matters pertaining to
canine pets and he WAS not less wide
lN known III sporting circles as Il dog
tauciuI than among all CLASSES in the
community aS the man to consult upon
all matters concerning dogs. from the
trimming their ears To the gravcSt NAL
aides. Like all men who have had
much to do with dogs. he laughed at
the popular notion about their tcndcn-
cN Ia madness. and has written frequent
~ on the subject. dccrNing the common
fear of hydrophobia. His letters have
in past Years been widely published
He dnuhtcd whether the disease of ca
nine madness had Il real existence. and
he was quite convinced that ut all
events its occurrence Is so rare that
there is no need of taking precautions
against ii.
The conviction has cost him his life
About six weeks ago Il gentleman
brought dog which WAS sick to his
office. Mr.. Butler determined to ad-
minister a dose of medicine. The dog
WAS held 10y Il boy and medicine was
forced into its mouth. hut while Mr..
Butler with his hand in the dogs mouth
WAS cndcaVoring to make it swallow.
the animal hit the thumb of his right
hand 81 badly that the marks of six
sharp teeth could bc plainly seen.
The wound soon healed and Mr.. But
lcr had almost forgotten about it. until
last Monday morning. when in his effort
to swallow IL cup of tea at his breakfast
table. he was seized with IL violent par
uXySm and convulsivc tIemor. and to
his surprise discovered that his mus
clcs would not convey the drink to his
mouth. In some alarm he turned to his
wife and said, ''Why. how strange that
is cannot get that tea to my lips ::
what cen it mean ?'' She thought of
the bite of the dog Immediately. and
like il flash ii came to her that her huS-
band had the hydrophobia, but she en-
deaVorrd ut the time to conceal her
fears from him. and told him he WAS
nervous and needed rest. "I'Il try an
other cup. then" he answered. but in
attempting to drink he was again con-
vulScd. \ few hours afterward he
recognized symptoms OF hydrophObla
and realized his condition. He then
begged his friends to keep away from
him. and ran up and down stairs with
stick III his hands. endeavoring to strike
and bite every person who approached
him. He tore the clothing from his
body. and clutching at his breast.
shrieked There are mad dogs there"
Physicians We're called in and were
obliged To tie him down, and finally
succeeded in injecting morphine into
his arm. This relieved his paroXysms
lie lost the power of speech, then
harked like il dog, while strcaks of
foam poured from his mouth. and late
on Tuesday night he died.
Mr.. Butler WAS native of England.
His education WAS of superior order.
He was an accomplished linguist. ana
has been connected with several cduca-
tional institutions as professor of
languages. He wrote Il popular book
entitled Dog Training" He had no
fear of hydrophobia, and often ex-
pressed the opinion that it was simply
nervous affection and that the bite of
dog would not produce the disease
unless fear supervened and Occasioned
it.