Chumfo, the Super-sense 



other mental complexities; that he is accustomed 

 to hear (that is, to receive vibrations) through his 

 feet or his skin quite as much as through his ears ; 

 and that his whole body, relaxed and at ease, often 

 becomes a first-class receiving instrument for what 

 we call sense impressions. 



As an example of this last, note the wild creat- 

 ure's response to every change of air pressure, a 

 response so immediate and certain that one might 

 accurately forestall the barometer by observing 

 the action of birds, or even of chickens, which 

 anticipate a storm long before your face has noted 

 the moist wind or your eye the rain-cloud. In the 

 winter woods I have often seen a deer feeding 

 greedily (quite at variance with his usual dainty 

 tasting) at an hour long before or long after his 

 accustomed time, and as I traveled wider I would 

 find other deer doing the same thing. I used to 

 wonder at this, till I noticed that such unusual 

 action was always followed by a storm not an 

 ordinary brief snowfall, to which deer pay little 

 attention beyond seeking shelter while it lasts, but 

 a severe storm or blizzard, during which most 

 animals lie quiet for a whole day, or even two or 

 three days, without stirring abroad for food. 



Whether an element of forethought enters into 

 this act of "stuffing" themselves before a storm, 

 or whether it is wholly instinctive, like the bear's 



[45] 



