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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



thought it was very bad to set the 

 children to the examining of flowers, 

 bugs and 'things.' They should bt 

 doing something more elevating!" 



About the same time we were in- 

 formed that a prominent society 

 woman of Stamford had said that she 

 does not know the difference between 

 a robin and an English sparrow and 

 is proud of the fact that she does not 

 know, and is glad to have everybody 



know that she doesn't know. 



Is there public need of the AA? One 

 business man is astonished that it is 

 not a paying Institution ; one business 

 man thinks everybody is so interested 

 in nature that such a society is en- 

 tirely out of place, and still two other 

 people are proud of their ignorance of 

 nature. 



When doctors disagree who shall 

 decide? 



A Chapter of the Agassiz Association. (Incorporated 1892 and 1910.) The Law of Love, Not the Love of Law. 



Cruelty to a Cat Exploited as a Matter 

 for Approval and Applause. 



Some of last month's magazines had 

 a full page advertisement with the at- 

 tractive heading in bold type, "How 

 Can I make a Cat Stretch Itself on the 

 Stage Every Night?" and continues, 

 'That is what puzzled David Belasco. 

 He wanted to give a domestic touch to 

 a play: If he could only get a cat to 

 come on the stage at a particular point 

 in the play, stretch itself and lap a 

 saucer of milk. But how to make a 

 cat stretch every night at a given time? 

 He puzzled over it for days. Then an 

 ingenious idea struck him, and every 

 night for 400 nights he made a cat 

 stretch. It made the success of the 

 play. Read how he did it. You never 

 would have thought it possible." 



Upon referring to "The Ladies' 

 Home Journal" I found the remark- 

 able statement exploited with the evi- 

 dent expectation of approval from the 

 public and of an increased interest in 

 Mr. Belasco's theatre. The brilliant 

 achievement by which a cat is forced 

 to stretch herself in the presence of 

 the public is described as follows: 



"One day I was in a friend's house 

 and the cat at the fireside stretched 

 herself. 'There,' I thought, 'that is the 

 domestic touch I want in "Hearts of 

 Oak.." For a cat before the hearth is 

 always a comfortable touch, and a cat 

 never looks quite so comfortable as 

 when she stretches herself. But how 

 could I make a cat stretch herself to 

 order every night on the stage? It 

 would be a great touch if I could do 

 it, but how? 



"However, I did it, and this is how: 

 I got a black cat and had a stage man 

 fasten her in a box which was a little 

 too short for her. Then I put her in 

 the cellar, where J fed her in the morn- 

 ing, but gave her no food during the 

 day. Then just before the curtain went 

 up the cat was brought up in her box, 

 which was placed at a part of the stage 

 hidden by the table but near the fire; 

 and at exactly the right point in the 

 play I would open the box. Of course 

 the cat, stiff from being kept in the 

 box all day, would walk over to the 

 fire, stretch herself and hungrily begin 

 lapping up the milk in the saucer. That 

 cat was always greeted with laughter 



