Life — April 23, 1903 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 368 **Main Cartoon ("A Grewsome Joke"):** The top illustration depicts a formal social scene where a woman in an elegant gown presents what appears to be a severed head on a platter to a seated gentleman. The caption quotes: "Look, papa! The Duke has banquot his coronet" and "Tell him to go ahead and play it. I don't mind the noise." This is **satirical commentary on the Pasteur treatment for hydrophobia (rabies)**. The text explains that while the treatment sometimes worked, some patients died afterward anyway. The joke mocks the grim irony: presenting death as if it were a social entertainment or acceptable outcome of medical treatment—darkly suggesting the "cure" was as deadly as the disease itself.