134 PEAR— ITS EFFECTS. 



Prenatal Causes. 



In this connection I would call attention to indirect 

 causes of fear which should be guarded against. For 

 example : A farmer who kept a small dairy had the cows 

 driven to and from the pasture by a trained dog, which bit 

 and frightened one of them severely. A neighbor had a 

 very wild cow, which had been treated gently. Both 

 cows having steer calves, the ow^ner of the wild cow bought 

 the calf raised by the neighbor for the j^urpose of match- 

 ing his own to make a yoke of steers. When he tried to 

 train them, he found the one out of the gentle cow that 

 had been frightened, exhibited such uncontrollable fear of 

 dogs, and became so wild when he saw one or heard it 

 bark, that he could do nothing with him, and so sold him 

 for beef. The incident was related to me by the owner, 

 who was a member of my class, upon my advancing the 

 theory that great extremes of fear or viciousness were 

 sometimes the effect of prenatal causes. 



Soon afterward, in the same neighborhood, a five-year- 

 old colt was brought in to be experimented upon before a 

 class. He was extremely wild and difficult to approach, 

 and, as the owner stated, had never been touched or 

 handled by any one. Upon remarking that there must 

 haA^e been some good cause for this, and that usually such 

 extreme fear and sensibility was the result of abuse to the 

 mother, the owner said, " That is true," and then gave me 

 the following ficts concerning him : " When the stallion 

 was brought to serve the mare, he acted badly, and was 

 disposed to resist the groom, for which he was taken behind 

 the barn and severely whipped. In this condition, while 

 A^ery much excited, he w^as put to the mare. When the 

 colt came, he was so wild that no one could get near 

 enough to touch him. 



