One of the squarest confirmations of the correctness of the theories maintained by this Journal, is to be found in the opinions of Al Watts, the famous animal-fancier and physician, as recently given by him to an interviewer. He says he has been bitten over and over again, by all sorts of animals, and has never had a touch of anything that resembles hydrophobia. He doubts if M. Pasteur (the celebrated discoverer of the French prophylactic method of inoculation) can hinder the hydrophobia, because Mr. Watts doubts if there is any such disease, outside of mind. But let him speak for himself:—
You can have hydrophobia if you want to let your imagination run riot. Remember, there is no necessity for having it, unless you really want it; but I think you can have it if you wish it. Indeed, I believe you can have it just as well without being bitten by a dog. They get me to cauterize their wounds, and then they go off feeling better. Mind you, I want to make myself clear about this matter. If I had never seen a case of cholera or smallpox, I should not feel warranted in saying that those diseases did not exist; but here I am in my business, on the lookout for a case of hydrophobia, and yet have never found one. I am ready to go at any time to see a case. I have looked up hundreds of reported cases of rabies, and found them always to be something else. I think I should have found at least one case of the kind, if such a thing as hydrophobia is so common as many claim it is; especially in the position that I occupy, and because I am supposed, as you know, to be the authority on dogs in this country, having been in the business so many years.
