JOURNAL AiS'D PROCEEDINGS. " ^^ 



betrayal of this tendency— of this murderous instinct — on the part of 

 all and sundry, young and old, in civilized society. 



The small boy delights in throwing stones at anything, or at 

 nothing ; it would appear that he nmst throw, and as he becomes 

 less and less of a small boy he indulges himself with a catapult, a 

 pea-shooter, a sling, a bow-and-arrow, a revolver, and at last a rifle. 

 The hit-and-knock-down feeling is as strong in him as if it were a 

 necessity of his existence. 



Many older people gratify this predatory instmct in the pursuit 

 of what they call game. Once, or oftener, a year, and with as much 

 regularity as marks the course of nature in other respects, hard- 

 headed business men become uneasy — -they tell us they are getting 

 " run down," that they require "a whiff of country air," " a smell of the 

 pine woods," and so on, and they are quite sincere, for the old-time 

 instinct is simply re-asserting itself in this desire for a " run out-of- 

 doors," or " a spell in the bush," but above all, in the case of the 

 hunter, there is the desire to kill something. A deer is a prize, a 

 bear is glory ! So many brace of ducks or other game-fowl is some- 

 thing to boast about until next season — not that this kind of food is 

 a necessity, but solely and simply on account of an indescribable 

 pleasure experienced in the taking away of life ! 



In the not-long-ago when trans-continent il travellers on the 

 Pacific railways, in crossing the prairies, happened to see a buffalo 

 within rifle range, shots were fire at the animal from the car windows 

 to gratify a spirit of pure savagery, for there was no hope that should 

 a buffalo be killed its carcase or its hide would reward the ah — the 

 ah — the sportsman. Sportsman indeed ! the savage rather, for what 

 cared he though the poor brute should linger for days in agony 

 before lying down to die ? 



Another class of so-called sportsmen to whom such opportuni- 

 ties are denied, indulge their manly tastes in the slaughter of pigeons 

 released from traps, or they commit sad havoc among chipmunks, 

 robins and other ferocious creatures that infest the woods near 

 home. 



In all ranks and conditions we find manifested the same spirit 

 of slaughter, the same desire to inflict pain, and the same gratifica- 

 tion consequent upon the practice of cruelty upon the brute creation. 

 On no other theory than that of savage impulse does it seem possible 



