Interdisciplinary Studies Major, Writing/Marine Bio Minors

CPB#11

From the National Geographic article “Six Ways to Stop a Vampire”

The traditional belief that garlic’s odor deters vampires may have originated with the disease rabies. “In 1998,” writes Mark, “Spanish neurologist Dr. Juan Gomez-Alonso made a correlation between reports of rabies outbreaks in and around the Balkans—especially a devastating one in dogs, wolves, and other animals that plagued Hungary from 1721 to 1728—and the ‘vampire epidemics’ that erupted shortly thereafter. Wolves and bats, if rabid, have the same snarling, slobbering look about them that folklore ascribed to vampires—as would a human being suffering from rabies. Various other symptoms support the rabies-vampire link: Dr. Gomez-Alonso found that nearly 25 percent of rabid men have a tendency to bite other people. That almost guarantees transmission, as the virus is carried in saliva. Rabies can even help explain the supposed aversion of vampires to garlic. Infected people display a hypersensitive response to any pronounced olfactory stimulation, which would naturally include the pungent smell of garlic.”

1 Comment

  1. Anthony Albano

    I’m not able to pinpoint just one idea that you follow throughout all of your commonplace book entries, all of them are different in their own ways. I think that there seems to be a connection through sexuality, and connections to adapted works. In a couple of your entries, one on The Beetle, and one on The Picture of Dorian Gray, follow the sexual ties in the novel and how it effects the way we read it. These entries only have written elements but bolding certain sections to show importance is a smart move to add more of a visual aspect. More of your entries have some connection to adaptations or inspirations. I like your Dracula entry with the envolution of vampires in movies from scary/murderous to kid friendly.

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