398 
EDITORIAL 
Owing to several causes, hydrophobia lias prevailed lately to 
an unusual extent. Among these causes may be mentioned our 
culpable carelessness in respect to useless and vagrant dogs—mere 
canine tramps—and the non-enforcement of proper sanitary legis¬ 
lation relating, not to diseases of dogs only, but to all the diseases 
of animals communicable to man. That we are endangered by 
an outbreak of rabies at the present time, we regret to say, there 
is no room to doubt. But when this has passed over, may we 
not inquire whether there are not other diseases which we ought 
still more to dread, and which really threaten us more imminently 
than hydrophobia ? 
Now that the horse has been stolen, our daily papers are bid¬ 
ding us to close the barn door, and are putting themselves to 
much trouble, by plying that marvelous knowledge-pump, the 
u interview,” in order to find out all about it. If in plying the 
pump-handle they suck up a great deal of air, it will not be much 
wondered at. There is sometimes much gas, and sometimes a 
great vacuum at the end of this pump—the standing and repute 
of the interviewed parties as “ experts ” or “ authorities ” not¬ 
withstanding. Of course the reporters have collected material in 
abundance for the articles they are directed to “ get up ” on the 
current topic, but what will be their next text? Will they per¬ 
mit us, though a little in advance, to inform them ? It will prob¬ 
ably be—glanders. 
We have had a few mad dogs in New Jersey, albeit scarcely 
more than in other years, though the results have been more 
serious than usual. But how many cases of glanders have we 
in all directions around us ? The rabid dogs recently running 
loose were in New Jersey, but glanders is all over. It exists in 
nearly every city, county and State of the Union ; and what are 
we going to do about it ? 
We have heard of building hospitals for rabid patients; but 
how many human hydrophobic patients can be counted within 
the last 10 or 20 years to justify these establishments? We are 
told also of veterinarians building hospitals for rabid dogs; but 
how many of those wretched animals have been found in the 
same period of 10 or 20 years, and liow many have ever existed 
