JAMES E. THOMPSON-MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS, ETC. 
87 
A few years ago a number of tailless cats were shown before the asso¬ 
ciation of German naturalists at Weisbaden. They were said to have 
inherited their taillessness or rudimentary tails from the mother, who 
was reported to have lost hers by injury. This history, however, was 
not proven; so it can not be accepted as evidence. An interesting series 
of cats without tails, or with rudimentary tails, was discovered some 
yeai*s ago at Waldkirch, in the Black Forest. The mother had a nor¬ 
mal tail, the father was unknown. As it was suspected that these cats 
were the results of transmitted mutilations, further investigations were 
made, resulting in the discovery of a male Manx cat in the neighbor¬ 
hood. I quote these two cases to show the absolute necessity of close 
and careful observation before accepting a mere rumor as scientific 
evidence. 
It may be asked in this connection, how came it about that tailless cats 
are found in the Isle of Man and in some parts of Japan. Tailless cats 
are popularly thought to be better mousers than others, and so are more 
highly prized. This being so, it is just probable that artificial selection 
was added on to a process of natural selection, preserving and perpetuat¬ 
ing a race of cats whose tendency was to a gradual diminution in tail 
length. 
Some very interesting researches were made by Bonnet on the rudi¬ 
mentary tails of dogs who were born of parents whose tails are habitually 
mutilated. Occasionally, but very rarely, from such parents, a pup is 
born whose tail is shorter than normal and whose tail is represented by a 
membranous curled-up appendage surmounted by a tuft of hair. 
Bonnet found that the rudimentary tails depend upon the absence of 
several vertebrae, together with abnormal ossification, and sometimes 
anchylosis. The cases varied, and here I quote in detail, for the sub¬ 
ject is important. In the two first cases the reduction occurred in the 
distal end of the vertebral column, the more or less malformed vertebrae 
being anchylosed; a membranous appendage extending beyond the re¬ 
reduced caudal vertebrae and forming the so-called soft tail. These 
characters were shown to be inherited from the mother. In a third in¬ 
stance from four to seven caudal vertebrae were absent, and the caudal 
column was characterized along its whole length by a premature tendency 
toward anchylosis. In addition, the last three or four vertebrae were 
placed transversely to the long axis of the tail, which was greatly curved. 
Now are these changes such as would be expected as the result of ma¬ 
ternal or paternal mutilation ? Would we not rather expect that the 
terminal vertebrae would be absent altogether ? Investigations have 
shown that a similar deformity is present in the much prized tailless cats 
of Japan. 
