CuKREvSPONDENCE AND INFORMATION. 



333 



in the direction of the noise and arriv- 

 ing in sight of a big oak tree saw the 

 squirrel perched on a topmost limb 

 and scolding and barking hard. There 

 was nothing unusual in this, but as 

 lie was about ready to shoot, what was 

 the boy's surprise to see a large red 

 fox directly under the tree and watch- 

 ing the squirrel with all its attention. 



The boy was so intent on the squir- 

 rel that he had started out to shoot 

 that it never occurred to him in the 

 excitement to shoot the fox first and 

 he fired at the squirrel. The animal 

 fell immediately. The fox never stirred 

 until the squirrel struck the ground 

 when he grabbed it and started to run. 

 Young Brown by this time had his 

 wits about him and having put another 

 shell in his gun fired at the fox which 

 dropped in its tracks with the squirrel 

 still in its mouth. 



Whether the psychology of the story 

 is that like attention on the part of 

 both the boy and the fox led them to 

 fix all their minds on the squirrel and 

 thus be forgetful of the other or whe- 

 thcr there is some other explanation T 

 am unable to say. 



Clarke A. SanEord. 

 Editor "The Catskill Mountain Neivs." 



A DEFENSE OF ONE GROUP OF CAT 

 HATERS. 



New York. 

 To The Editor: — 



In an article in your September num- 

 ber Mr. C. H. Jones devotes a para- 

 graph to the "Cat Hater" which seems 

 rather unfair in the light of certain 

 known facts. I may state that while I 

 am not "crazy" about cats, I would claim 

 a place midway beween the "Cat Lovers" 

 and 'Takers. " But I know a number of 

 people and am constantly meeting others 

 who would be classified as "Cat Haters" 

 by Mr. Tones, and I wish to make the 

 following statements concerning them ; 

 statements which have long been known 

 to medical men, but which are still un- 

 explained. 



With these people the feeling in re- 

 gard to cats is actually that of fear or 

 blind terror. This is congenital and not 

 originated by induced fear on the part of 

 nurses or otherwise. As infants, these 



people had the same terror of a piece of 

 cotton or a muff. As adults, the feeling 

 is entirely distinct from fear of any other 

 thing or organism. Coexistent with it 

 there may lie perfect fearlessness of 

 dogs, rats, mice, worms, snakes and 

 other creatures, and 1 have known such 

 people to be particularly fond of watch- 

 ing live lions and tigers. The fear is 

 usually greater of a kitten, perhaps be- 

 cause at this age its movements are more 

 uncertain. But the tiniest and most 

 helpless kitten may cause as great a 

 manifestation of terror as the largest and 

 most aggressive 'Tommy.' 



The fear cannot be put into words ex- 

 cept that it is an innate horror of being 

 approached or touched by a cat. Cats 

 seem to have an instinctive desire to go 

 to such people and I have frequently 

 known a cat to follow them for many 

 blocks. No amount of reasoning or as- 

 sociation with cats can overcome this 

 feeling, as indeed we realize must be 

 the case with a congenital characteristic. 



Finally, and most remarkable of all, 

 these people have the power of knowing 

 when a cat enters the room while the 

 animal is yet invisible to them. It is Dr. 

 Weir Mitchell, I think, who attributes 

 this to an unusual sensitiveness on the 

 part of the person's sense of smell to 

 some faint odor emanating from the cat. 

 I know of no one of the ordinary and 

 senseless dislikes of mice, bats, snakes, 

 or other innocuous creatures, which is 

 congenital and which cannot be over- 

 come by the will of the person. With- 

 out exception all these seem to be in- 

 duced during early childhood. 



This defense of at least one group of 

 "Cat Haters" is offered as a most in- 

 teresting subject, the explanation of 

 which may one day be forthcoming or 

 it may be forever buried in the dim past 

 history of the evolution of the human 

 race. 



C. William BeEbe, 

 Curator of Ornithology, 

 New York Zoological Park. 



TREES AND WOODPECKERS. 



473 Madison Street, Brooklyn, N. Y 

 To The Editor:— 



Are trees injured by the holes made 

 in the trunks by sapsuckers? 



