148 BIRD FRIENDS 



setts gathered evidence regarding the part that cats 

 play in the transmission of diseases. After con- 

 sultation with medical authorities, he reached the 

 conclusion that most of the data he had gathered 

 furnished only circumstantial evidence and were 

 inconclusive. But he concludes that the evidence 

 shows that " cats undoubtedly disseminate ring- 

 worm and rabies, and they may carry such infec- 

 tions as smallpox and scarlet fever; and in some 

 cases serious infections appear to have been trans- 

 mitted by the bites or scratches of cats." 



The evidence at hand proves conclusively that 

 cats have sometimes been the means of transmit- 

 ting diseases to human beings. To determine ex- 

 actly what kinds of diseases and how frequently they 

 may be transmitted to human beings requires fur- 

 ther investigations. 



Remedies. Bird-students are quite generally 

 agreed. that a partial solution of the cat problem 

 lies in licensing cats. Owners of cats should be 

 required to pay an annual license, such as is now 

 required for dogs. This licensing would tend to re- 

 duce the number of cats, as people who now keep 

 several cats would then keep but one, and some 

 people would not keep any at all, and the cats that 

 were kept would be better cared for. Such a cat 

 license is required in St. Petersburg, Florida. The 

 town of Montclair, New Jersey, has recently passed 

 an ordinance to the effect that owners of cats shall 



