52 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 



dangling from her teeth as if dead, was carried to the 

 house at no great distance. The door being shut, puss, 

 deceived by its apparent lifelessness, laid her victim on 

 the step while she gave her usual mewing cry for admit- 

 tance. By this time the active little creature had recov- 

 ered its recollection and in a moment struck its teeth into 

 its enemy's nose." 



Listen to the description of a death feigning Brahmin 

 bull which Surgeon Bidie describes as follows: "Some 

 years ago, while living in Western Mysore, I occupied a 

 house surrounded by several acres of fine pasture land. 

 The superior grass in this preserve was a great tempta- 

 tion to the village cattle, and whenever the gates were 

 open trespass was common. My servants did their best 

 to drive off intruders, but one day they came to me 

 rather troubled, stating that a Brahmin bull, which they 

 had beaten, had fallen down dead. It may be remarked 

 that these bulls are sacred and privileged animals, being 

 allowed to roam at large and eat whatever they may fancy 

 in the open shops of the bazaar men. On hearing that the 

 trespasser was dead, I immediately went to view the 

 body, and there sure enough it was lying exactly as if 

 life were extinct. Being rather vexed about the occur- 

 rence in case of getting into trouble with the natives, I 

 did not stay to make any minute examination, but at once 

 returned to the house with the view of reporting the 

 affair to the district authorities. I had only just gone for 

 a short time, when a man with joy in his face came run- 

 ning to tell me that the bull was high on his legs again 

 and quietly grazing. Suffice to say the brute had 

 acquired the trick of feigning death which practically ren- 

 dered its expulsion impossible, when it found itself in a 

 desirable situation. The ruse was practiced frequently 

 with the object of enjoying our excellent grass, and 



