St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-05-11
HYDROPHOBlA A FAKE.
co SAYS SUPERINTENDENT HAM
uNsoN, OF THE A. S. P. G. 7. A.

,osn,t Believe That Many Of Them
=. vod-Hydrophobia Is Imagination.
Came Of His Experiences With Cases.
.con man scare himself to death
,tor having been bitten by a dog which
a 49, madp' / asked Superintendent Han
~, ,Snoon of the American Society for the
naaypntion of Cruelty to Animals, one
Inv az he sat in his little Office on Twen-
ty.second street
Mr. Hankinson is a good natured
,.oknp man with reddish hair, who is
.traid of nothing and nobody; certainly
not of hydrophobia quacks.
1Why, certainly" he said, with de.
dsion THAT man down in Asbury
Dark who was bitten by cat was
.cored TO death. He never had hydro
nbobia. He died of nervous prostration
brourht on by worry over an imaginary
DANGER. His friends were all plying
him and hoping he wouldn't die, and
nbrophesving that he would, and he was
man of nervous temperament, as edu-
Gated people sometimes are, and it sim.
nv killed him. suppose he read up in
The books about hydrophobia and it
tnrped his head. That's all there was
shout it. Do you remember what a
great howl there was about those New
ark boys who were bitten by mad
dog. and who were sent over to Pasteur
to be curedF
"Why, of course: who doesn't?".
well, it's quite easy to cure disease
that never existed. Those boys never
had hydrophobia and never would have
had it, The dogs didn't have it. Dur
Ing that excitement we went to Newark
and found lot of dogs shut up We
asked to be allowed to take them away
TO our stables, but the people wouldn't
have it. Do you know what was done
with those dogs? After the excitement
was all over they were given back to
their owners, every one of them. Not
one was killed. Not one of them had
anything worse than fit. Why, our
men are constantly handling dogs, get
bitten again and again, but they never
dream of having hydrophobia. It's
myth There isn't any such thing"
A CASE OF IMAGINATION.
Then you don't believe in the exist
ence of such disease?' | asked, think
ing that, as Mr.. Hankinson probably
knows more about animals than any
other man in America, he must be good
authority.
mo, don't. There may be such a
disease, but don't believe it. never
saw case or knew of one positively"
" How about these doctors who cure
it," asked.
They don't cure anything. asked a
man who makes speciality of treating
hydrophobia, as he callsit, if he ever saw
one single case of hydrophobia to which
he could swear. He refused to answer, but
he told me this story: "A man came to
him one day n terrible distress. He had
been bitten by a dog; he feared madness;
he could not sleep at night and was
afraid he was going to die. He begged
The doctor to treat him. The doctor said
it was too late; the period of inocula-
ton had passed, and it would be no good
low. If he had hydrophobia there was
no way to stop it.
The man went away, but came back
the next day nearly frantic. He hadn't
slept wink and begged the doctor to do
something for him. So the doctor took
the man into his operating room and
gave him hypodermic injection of
water-just pure Croton water. He
went away, slept for the first time in
two weeks and came back the next day
for more water, and again the next, and
was soon perfectly cured. The doctor
told me that himself, and he processes to
cure hydrophobia.
SHE WAS MAD.
Why" continued Mr.. Hankinson.
I've had woman in Mysteries right in
that chair you're sitting in because dog
had bitten her. She wanted me to kill
the dog. wouldn't do it. Then she
screamed in terrible way. When she
stopped said to her: Madam, you ought
TO be ashamed of yourself. A woman Of
your intelligence You've interrupted
the business of the Office and drawn a
big crowd under the window to listen to
your yelling, and all for a within. Some
body told you you were going to go mad,
and now you think you ought to go mad
and you'll be mad if you don't go mad.
You just go home and say nothing about
1t and you'll be all right And she did it.
Another woman brought her boy in.
de had been bitten by mad dog, and
she wanted it shot, she said. The boy
looked perfectly well.
Now, look here, said l, you've been
talking a good deal to the boy about
TINS, haven't your And the neighbors
nave toof And you've been telling him
that he's likely to have hydrophobia,
haven't your
Yes, Of course, we've talked about
1t, said she.
Exactly said l. You've been TAX
ing the precise course likely to drive
MN \ mad or make him think himself so.
you have been trying to scare him to
death. If he were to go crazy it would
DC your fault. How is it, bub,' said l,
turning to the little fellow, You don't
expect to go mad, do your
mo, he didn't think he should, he
'slo He didn't feel any different. He