August 7, 1875. 
is wholly iininrtueuced by climatic changes. If these 
facts, with the almost positive certainty of preventing 
all trouble by proper treatment, were presented and 
urged upon the people by those individuals and papers 
which are regarded as leaders, the present insane general 
fear would be done away with and the public benefited, 
though sensational reporters would lose many an item. 
The trouble is, we are so wrapped up iii business or the 
pursuit of pleasure that many of our best educated men 
are satisfied with old-wife superstition upon a point 
thej' expect never to be brought into contact with; and 
even if b}' some chance the reports of scientific bodies 
are brought to their attention, disproving their previous 
theories, they straightway forget these, and upon the 
next occasion reaffirm their ancient, crude belief. How 
frequently do we hear of cases where a dog has bitten 
a child that has perhaps tormented it beyond bearing. 
No doubt of the* healthful condition of the animal is 
mentioned, yet the parents of the victim insist that the 
dog shall be killed, lest if it go mad at any later period 
the child will be similarly afflicted, from some lingering 
sympathy, unknown and unexplained by any more 
sensible argument than that “it has always been said 
to be so." What an absurdity ! What a travesty upon 
common sense! Yet at the command of this worse than 
brute ignorance the poor dog is sacrificed, and a life 
which, according to the creed of the dog, has no future, 
is blotted out forever. This is not a rare occurrence; 
ten such cases have come within our own knowledge, 
and we have heard the theorj' of sympathy advanced 
times without number. 
The popular idea, the basis of our stupid muzzle law, 
that during dog-days dogs are especially liable to hydro- 
phobia, is disproved in many ways, but by none more 
forcibly than the investigations which showed that there 
were more cases of tme rabies in Russia during one 
icinter, than on the whole of the rest of the European 
continent during the year. An equally telling argument 
is the assertion of eminent travelers that the disease is 
as common among the Esquimaux dogs as those of 
any other country. A record of a year kept in France 
of deaths by hydrophobia, whether real or supposed, 
demonstrated the fact that less persons perished by this 
disease than by lightning stroke. A similar record, 
founded upon the New York city papers for the year 
1S04, showed seven more deaths by lightning than so- 
called hydrophobia, and we venture to a.ssert that simi- 
lar comparisons would show similar results for a great 
majority ofyears during any decade. 
Hydrophobia is so dreaded that every supposed case 
is blazoned throughout the land, and people never pause 
to compare this exaggerated list with an approximation 
to the number of dogs, to* see what percentage of these 
go mad, nor do they consider this mortuary list in pro- 
portion to the number of dog owners, which, though 
large, is but a small portion of our population. If such 
comparisons were made, the results would show such 
great disp.-iiity of numbers and such small percentage of 
chances in favor of hydrophobia, that this disease would 
thereafter be ranked by intelligent men as a matter ol 
mere accidental occurrence rather than a constantly 
present and constantly to be dreaded plague. There 
are more persons killed each year by vicious horses, 
more gored or trampled to death by infuriated cattle, 
more even killed by falling down stairs, than from hy- 
drophobia. If any of our readers doubt this assertion, 
let them take the daily papers of any of oui' large cities, 
keep a faithful recor<j of all these casualties for one 
year, and the most skeptical will be convinced. 
If such records were kept, and their results communi- 
cated to the public, a few years would mark a great 
change for the better in popular feeling. One effect 
would be the overcoming of the fear to which so many 
men have fallen victims. The overpowering infiuence 
of the mental Over the physical system is no longer a 
matter of doubt. The medical reports of great pestilence 
show numberless cases where fatal disease has been 
engendered by fear alouej^ Hydrophobia being essen- 
tially an affection of the great nerve centers is fully 
within the scope of influence by fear, instances have 
been numerous where great dread of the disease has 
produced it from the bite of a perfectly healthy dog. 
One such case was noticed in our issue of the lOlh ult,, 
a much stronger illustration of the power of mental in- 
fluence is proved in the well-supported case of a man 
who, having bitten himself in a fit, became so impressed 
with the feai' of hydrophobia that he actually developed 
the disease, and died in its most terrible torments. 
If ordinary individuals will not take pains to inform 
themselves upon this disease; if the general press will 
still pander to a morbid taste for the sensational and 
horrible by publishing reports of deaths from canine 
madness without attempting to discover the truths of 
such reports, or to point out to the public the reverse 
side of the picture, then sportsmen, the truest friend ol 
the dog, must defend him from the a.spersiou8 of ignor- 
ance and superstition. Every other domestic animal is 
free from such persecution, both by popular ignorance 
and legal enactmeuis as follows the whole race of dogs. 
Yet if the record of ceaseless devotion, of tried faith- 
fulness was taken, the dog would have no superiors if 
any equals. 

National Rifle Association. 
The' regular monthly meeting was held on Tuesday, 
at 93 Nassau street. Present: Genls. Slialer, 'W’oodward, 
McMahon and Knox, Col. 'W'ard, Capts. Stacy and 
Carey; Messrs. Stanton and Smith. The tretvsurer re- 
ported $1,099 13 balance in hand. The executive com- 
mittee are at work on the programme for the Fall meet- 
ing, the date of which is not yet fixed. Messrs. .John 
Boylan, .Joseph Cairnes, S. T. Gedney and Charles 
Roane were elected life members. 
- . — . 
One of the novelties of the day is a solid steel trout 
rod, veiy elastic and light, a nine foot rod only' weighing 
ten ounces. The inventor is a gentleman sportsman 
who has expended several hundred dollars in bringing 
it to perfection, and from what we have handled it, 
think it is the coming rod for experts. 
GouvERNEru, N. Y'., has organized the Oswegatchie 
Sportsmen’s Club of Gouverneur. President, .J. B. 
Preston; V. P., E. F. Beardslee; Sec., G. B. Oriniston; 
Treas. , H. Sudds; Managers, E. F. Beardslee, .J. S. Cor- 
bin, J. ;M. Sparks, and Jas. M. Spencer, .Jr. There are 
fifteen members, and according to the laws of the 
State each member is constituted a game constable. 
At the third annual meeting of the Staten Island 
Shooting Association of Port Richmond, held on Mon- 
day evening, July 12, 1875, Robert Rogerson, M. D., 
was made president; Cornelius S. Vreeland, vice-presi- 
dent; Clarence Jl. Johnson, secretary; I. Frederick 
Kathyen, treasurer. 
The doubt about quail being insectivorous receives a 
settler in the following, which we take from an Ohio 
paper. A young fanner watched a bevy of quail ranging 
over his father’s corn field. They' pursued a very regu- 
lar course in their foraging, beginning on one side of 
the field,^ taking about five rows, and following them 
uniformly to the opposite ena, returning in the same 
manner over the next five rows. They continued in 
this course until they had explored the greater part of 
the field. The lad, believing that they were pulling up 
the corn, fired into the flock, killing but one of them, 
and examined the ground. In the whole space which 
they had traversed he found but one stalk of corn dis- 
turbed. This was nearly scratched out of the ground, 
but the earth still adhered to it,- In the crop of .he 
quail he found one cut worm, twenty-one striped vine 
bugs, and one hundred chinch bugs, but not a single 
grain of corn. 
Our fashionable folks go to Europe as often as they 
can to spend money, and talk of what they read in the 
guide books, but our sportsmen are not so foolish as to 
go abroad to find what they have at home. A corres- 
pondent tells us that 
“ The country stretching along the route of the INIis- 
souri, Kansas A Texas Railway, for hundreds of miles, 
is one of the richest agricultural districts to be found in 
the habitable world. Its surface is undulating prairie 
and openings, with its rivers and lakes skirted with tim- 
ber. The .scenery' of thiscombined woodland, prairie and 
rivers, is surpassingly beautiful; disclosing picture.sque 
rivers, which stretch away in the far distance like the 
varying pictures of a lovely panorama. The rivers and 
lakes aliound in fish and water fowl, and the woodlands 
in game.” 
The same may be tntthfully said of a hundred loctUi- 
tics in the United States. Why then go abroad ? 
A FEW days since a large hawk caught one of a brood 
of six weeks’ old turkeys, owned by A. .J. Burnham, of 
Montpelier, flew off fifty rods with it, and alighted on a 
tree top to make a meal of its prey. At this stage of the 
game two crows espied the hawk, and look a hand in, 
attacking the hawk with so much spirit that it dropped 
the turkey artd fled, closely pursued by the crows. The 
turkey' was recovered alive, and but slightly injured. 
[by Ol'lt OWN COERZePONDENTS.] 
Chicago, .July 31. — fl’lie much expected match be- 
tween the Kennicotts and the Prairies came off Thurs- 
day at Stagg’s, and contrary to all expectation was won 
by the Prairies, more by luck than anything else, as 
several of their men did shooting such as they have 
never done before, and a hundred to one can never do 
again; while the K’s not only did not have out their 
strongest team, but several of their “old reliables” 
panned out very poorly, and though the shooting was 
poor — the average of the winners being but -79 on birds 
that to say the least were only ordinary flyers — there w as 
much e.xciteinent toward the close, and when Frank 
Milligan selected the ea.siest bird of his last pair, and 
put both barrels into him, thus scoring the winning bird, 
perhaps the Prairies didn’t cut up a little over their un- 
expected victory'. I don’t think they hugged Frank; I 
know they didn’t carry him on their shoulders; he is 
too solid a man for that. But they did cheer, hurrah, 
dance and take on generally', and they haven’t got 
through yet. 'Well, who wouldn’t ? About five years 
of nothing but defeat, always at the tail-end, and now 
such a boost as this! to defeat with only ordinary men 
a team containing the three Kleinmans and Ute three 
Prices, and six others nearly' as good; and the best part 
of it is the pluck and back bone they display'ed in chal- 
lenging a club that was almost certain to defeat them, 
'tt'hat a pity one of our other local clubs hadn’t a little 
of the same ! If they had do you think they would sit 
still and keep repeating and mumbling to themselves (it’s 
so old nobody else will listen): “A great many moons ago 
zee won the champion badge, champion badge 1 cham- 
pion badge ! ! What an awful thing it would be for us 
to get beaten now. Wait a little, may be we can find 
another country' club, then we’ll show' them,” etc. 
Oh for spunk, energy and back-bone for the poor 
“champions” Well, the Kennicotts say they were only' 
beaten by one bird this time, while the last match, shot 
eighteen months ago, they came out nineteen ahead, 
and they propose trying it again right away in hopes of 
getting the best two out of three. 
Mr. J. P. Grund, of your city, is in town, and has 
been doing a little shooting just to show the boys how 
it is done in New A'ork. With his light 7-lb. gun he 
does belter shooting than many of us with our 10 or 12 
pounders. 
Woodcock still continue very scarce; young prairie 
chickens plenty. Nobody knows where the pigeons 
are; they can’t be found, and none are to be had at any' 
price. Fishing is very poor. A new rifle club has been 
organized and range established. 
Hr. Ev.vns, the American dentist of Pari.s, has a re 
markable collection of birds. The greatest rarity of all 
is a pair of Lite original breed of chickens fn.ni India, 
the hen alone being worth $2,000. 
The Quebec Mercury, advocating the protection of 
game in Canada, say's: “Of the various kinds of deer 
which the Dominion affords none is so worthy of pro- 
tection as the caribou, for the following reasons: The 
habit of this animal in its wide range extends so far 
north of the agricultural regions of this country that it 
furnishes food for man where cattle will not live. Its 
diet moreover takes nothing fiom the food of human 
beings, or the fodder of ordinary stock, and "it is to be 
hoped the greatest care will be taken to prevent the 
eemingly impending extinction of this noble animal iuc 
w'estern portions of the Dominion.” 
Fishing in Lake Ontario is reported good. A cor- 
resjiondent writes: I have just come in from a ten days’ 
cruise on Lake Ontario. In the last two days of the 
trip our party captured 392 black bass and 89 pickerel, 
which is a fair sample of the kind of fun we had. The 
fish were large and full of fight. I never knew the fish- 
ing so good as it is all through these purls this year. I 
have had splendid success. 
The Interst.\te Match. — The National Rifle Asso- 
sociation are about to issue a circular to the Governors 
of the States and Territories throughout the Union, in- 
viting the attendance of the riflemen of their sections 
at Creedmoor during the coming fall mieting, to par- 
ticipate in the great interstate match. 
Some of the expert fishermen of Hartford, Conn., 
have just started for a week’s sport at Camp Kennebago 
in Maine. 
