The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1883-02-15
The Modified Instincts Of Blind Cat.

have affored an opportunity TO observe
the workings Of Instinct under dill
culties Is q noble specimen of the genus
FeIis. "Dido" is his name-given for
| simple euplIony, without regard to gen.
, der. During the four years of his life
he has never been known toClo anything
wrong, unless it be to fight most des.
perately against all feline intrudors. In
! some one of his many encounters, Dido
met with an injury in one of his feet
that mado o surgical operation neces-
sary, from which he recovered, but
shortly afterward went totally blind.
A cataract was formed over each eye,
by which, as repeated experiments
proved, vision was thoroughly obscured.
This calamity came on suddenly, and
placed the cat in circumstances not
provided for by the ordinary gifts of in
stinct. What to do with himself was
plainly n problem hard to be solved.
lie would sit and mew most pitcously,
as if bemoaning his condition; and
when he attempted to move about, he
met with all the mishaps that the reader
will be likely to imagine. lie ran
against walls, fell down stairs, stumbled
over sticks, and when once on tho top
rail of the fence he would traverse its
entire length seeking in vain for safe
jumping off place. On being called, he
would run about bowildered, as il not
knowing whence the voice came nor
whittier he should go to find the one
calling. In short, Dido's life seemed
hardly worth living, and we were seri-
ously plotting his death, when the cat
himself clearly concluded that he must
make his other senses atone for the loss
of sight.
1t was very curious to watch his OK
periments. One of the first of these
was concerning tho art of going down
stairs. Instead of paving the air, as he
had been doing on reaching the top
stop, he went to one sido till he felt the
, banisters touch his whiskers, and then,
guided thus, he would descend safely
and ut full speed, turning into the hall
on gaining the last step. One by one
he made each familiar path study, do
tcrmincd the oxact location of each
door, explored anew all his own haunts,
and seemed bravely resolved to begin
life over again. The result was so nn-
cxpcctedly successful that we were de-
coived into tho notion that sight had
been restored. But by placing any OBJ
,stacle in the path, and then calling him
eagerly to his customary feeding place,
1t was evident that he was entirely
blind, for he would run with full force
against tho box or other obstruction,
ana then, for time nfterward, he would
proceed with renewed caution.
Dido's "vOice is still for war; and
his blindness does not make him any
less successful in his duels with in
truderS. He even goes abroad in quest
OF adventures, and comes safely homo
again.
His value as q mouser docs not seem
to be in the least diminished. Ono of
my experiments as to his capacity in
| TINS direction came rerr costing me
dear. | had heard the gnawing of q rat
in an old closet where there lay uuan-
! tity OF newspapers. Here it was decided
to leave Dido over night, and while ar.
| ranging the papers for the purpose, my
hand was suddenly caught by the claws
and teeth of what at the moment seemed
like small tiger. Poor Dido! He
really looked ashamed Of his blundcr in
mistaking my hand for his anticipated
victim. Fortunately the papers served
as shicld, or the injury inflicted might
have been more serious. may add that,
on opening the closet the next morning,
there was Dido mounting guard over a
slain rat as big as cvcr spoiled good
provisions or tried housckeeper's
temper.
1t is well known that the house-cat
will find its way back from distant places
to which it has been carried blindfoldcd :
and how it performs such foats natural
lists have never satisfactorily explained.
The theory accepted by some of them is
tnat tho animal takes note of the sue
cessive odors encountered on the way,
that these leave as distinct q series of
! images as those we should receivo by
the sense of sight, and that, by taking
them i'll the inverse order from that in
which they were received, he traces his
homcward route.
But, in the cat now described, tho
sonSe of smell is by no means acute, as
has been proved by variety of meth
DDS; and, moreover, although, as one
might say, perpotually blindfoldcd, he
quite uniformly chooses the shortest
road home, without reference to the
path he may have taken on leaving the
house. Curious to see how far this
homing instinct would extend, took
advantage Of fall of snow that wrap
ped under its mantle every familiar OBJ
ject, concealed all the paths, and dead
ened every Odor and sound. Taking
Dido to n considerable distance from the
house, and making q number of turns to
bewildcr him, I tossed him upon drift
and quietly awaited results. The poor
creature turned his sightless orbs this
way and that, and mewed pitcously for
help. Finding, ut length, that he was
thrown entirely on his own resources,
he stood motionless for about one min
ute, and then, to my amazemont, made
his way directly through the untroddcn
snow to the house door-which, it is
needless to add, was promptly opened
for the shivcrinG martyr to scientific in.
vestigation, TO whom consolation was
forthwith offered in brimming bowl of
new milk.
My conclusion, therefore, IS that Wal
lace's ingenius the Dry Of accounting for
orientation by what he calls "brain
registration, will not explain what has
been described; but that the mysterious
homing faculty is probably independent
Of such methods OF gaining knowledge
as have been ordinarily observed, and is
analogous TO the migratory instinct con.
trolling the long flights of some species
of birds.-H. C. Horey, in Scientific
american.