270 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



Cape to Cairo, from the Aru Islands to Tasmania and from 

 Banks Land to the Mexican boundary, they are growing and 

 spreading. In them, save for the misdoings of the few uncaught 

 and unkilled predatory animals, fear can die out, and the peace 

 of paradise regained take its place. 



Hysteria of Fear in a Bear. Among wild animals in 

 captivity hysteria, of the type produced by fear, is fairly com- 

 mon. A case noticed particularly on October 16, 1909, in a 

 young female Kadiak bear, may well be cited as an example. 



The subject was then about two and one-half years old, and 

 was caged in a large open den with four other bears of the same 

 age. Of a European brown bear male, only a trifle larger than 

 herself, she elected to be terror-stricken, as much so as ever a 

 human child was in terror of every move of a brutal adult 

 tormentor. Strangely enough, the cause of all this terror was 

 wholly unconscious of it, and in the course of an observation 

 lasting at least twenty minutes he made not one hostile move- 

 ment. The greater portion of the time he idly moved about 

 in the central space of the den, wholly oblivious of the alarm 

 he was causing. 



The young Kadiak, in full flesh and vigor, first attracted my 

 attention by her angry and terrified snorting, three quick 

 snorts to the series. On the top of the rocks she raced to and 

 fro, constantly eyeing the bear in the centre of the den. If 

 he moved toward the rocks, she wildly plunged down, snorting 

 and glaring, and raced to the front end of the den. If the bogey 

 stopped to lick up a fallen leaf, she took it as a hostile act and 

 wildly rushed past him and scrambled up the rocks at the 

 farther end of the den. This was repeated about fifteen times 

 in twenty minutes, accompanied by a continuous series of 

 terrified snorts. She panted from exhaustion, frothed at the 

 mouth, and acted like an animal half crazed by terror. 



Not once, however, did the bogey bear pay the slightest 

 attention to her, and his sleepy manner was anything but terri- 

 fying. 



