70 
THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
The Psychology of Killing. 
New Haven, Conn. 
To the Editor : 
On page XIII of the August number 
of The Guide to Nature, you quote 
from an article by Robert M. Gay in 
“The Atlantic Monthly,” the idea sug- 
gested being no doubt uplifting, but 
where does Mr. Gay get off in his ar- 
gument as applied to the average per- 
son who has occasion to know a “barn- 
yard rooster.” 
I believe I am correct in stating that 
barnyard fowl are usually grown for 
revenue which means the ultimate kill- 
ing of the birds. Can one kill, or per- 
mit to be killed, a creature that he 
truly loves ? 
With kindest regards. 
Ernest Francis Coe. 
[FROM PERSONAL LETTER IN REPLY.] 
In your interesting letter, which I 
received while I was in camp, you raise 
a suggestive question. Personally I 
am of the opinion that the love that 
one applies to natural objects is not at 
all inconsistent with killing. Theoret- 
ically, from your point of view, we 
should love the rose and never pick it 
from the bush, but I think that those 
who gather the most roses love them 
the most. You may recall my article 
about the sportsmen being the best 
lovers of our wild birds. I formerly 
thought that those who prattled senti- 
ment and gush about the lovely birds 
were the real bird lovers. Now I think 
that the sportsmen who actually propa- 
gate and protect the birds at certain 
times of the year are true lovers. I also 
am disposed to think that the one who 
loves roosters and hens the most, and 
cultivates them as a business, is the 
one who most frequently kills them. 
The person who has no liking for a 
rooster would never feed it, and even if 
he does kill it after a long period of 
feeding his real love for the rooster is, 
I believe, none the less. I admire the 
look of pride and love on the faces of 
the exhibitors of fine stock at the 
poultry show. 
Some of the most ardent lovers of 
Belgian hares whom I have ever known 
use them as food for the family. They 
play with the animal during its life 
and then kill it painlessly. 
But psychology is an uncertain 
“ologv.” Here in Stamford certain per- 
sons steal trees from Dr. Morris’s beau- 
tiful estate to celebrate the birth of 
Christ. Several years ago at a meeting 
of the newspaper editors of Connecti- 
cut we compared notes, and found that 
the Baptist clergyman that published a 
religious paper was more grossly and 
frequently cheated than any of us. 
Isn’t this a queer world and isn’t psy- 
chology one of the queerest things in it ? 
I am wondering, to revert to the 
original question, if any one really did 
love a rooster and not kill it ; that is, 
have not all the chicken lovers gone 
into the chicken business? Many per- 
sons visit ArcAdiA and fall into ecsta- 
sies about the loveliness of the study of 
nature. Those who really love nature 
do not indulge in so much fizz and 
froth but devote themselves to the 
study ; even misfortune and a whack on 
the head can not keep them out of it. — 
Edward F. Bigelow. 
FROM A LATER LETTER FROM MR. COE. 
I am extremely interested in your 
expression of opinion as to the rela- 
tion between love and killing, and I 
consider that you have worked out 
your argument very clearly. “Pride 
and love” are not, I believe, necessarily 
handmaidens. To me the word “love” 
is the most subtle word in the world. 
Most of us have tucked away in our 
heart a very personal definition of what 
it means. Perhaps it is just as well to 
detach the word “love,” anyway, from 
consideration in relation to our ordi- 
narv, commonplace activities to which 
we are habituated. Otherwise, prac- 
tically all of us will be obliged to own 
up to inconsistency of action, com- 
pared with our highest ideals. Gush 
is cheap. “Fizz, froth and enthusiasm” 
are mere bubbles. You certainly have 
an opportunity to detect the real from 
the pseudo right at ArcAdiA. — Ernest 
Francis Coe. 
Mr. Ernest F. Coe has retired from 
the Elm City Nursery Company and 
will devote his entire time in the future 
to landscape work. His office is 951 
Forest Road, New Haven, Connecticut. 
We cordially recommend Mr. Coe as a 
good landscape architect and all-round 
naturalist and. even more emphatically, 
as a royal good fellow. 
The American Association for the 
Advancement of Science has now 
slightly more than ten thousand 
members. 
