The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1883-02-01

HOW BLIND CAT ADAPTED ITSELF TO IT'S
CONDITION.

HOW BLIND CAT ADAPTED ITSELF TO ITS
CONDITION..
The family layolite, whose mistortunes
have afforded an opportunity to observe
the workings OF instinct under difficulties,
IS noble specimen Of the genus Gelis.
DIDO is his name, given for simple en-
phony, without regard to gender During
the four years Of his life he has never been
known to do anything wrong, unless it
be to fight most desperately against all
feline lntrude1s lnsome one Of bis many
encounters DIDO met with aninjury to one
OF his feet that made a surgical operation
necessary, from which he recovered, but
shortly atterN ard went totally blind A
cataract was formed over each eye, by
which, as repeated experiment proved,
vision was thoroughly obscured.
This calamity came on suddenly, and
placed The eat in circumstances not pro
yided for by the ordinary gifts Of instinct
What to do with himself was plainly a
problem hard to be solved He would sit
and new most piteously, as if emoaning
his condition, and when he attempted to
move about, he met with all the mishaps
that the reader will be likely to imagine
He ran against walls, fell down stairs
stumbled over sticks, and, when once on
the top rail of the fence ne would traverse
It's entire length, seeking III vain for
safe jumping Oft place. On being called,
be would run about bcWildered, as if not
knowing whence the voice came or with
er he should 90 to find the one calling.
In short, Dido's life seemed hardly worth
living, and we were seriously plotting his
death, when the cat himself clearly CON
cluded that he must make his other SEN
ses atone for the loss of sight.
1t was very curious to watch his eX-
perimcnts. One Of the first of these was
concer ing the art Of going down stairs
Instead Of paving the air, as he had been
doing, On reaching the top step, he went
10 one side till he felt the banisters touch
his Whiskers and then, guided thus, he
would descend safely and at full speed,
turning into the hall on gaining the last
step. One by one he made each familiar
path study, determined the exact loca-
ton Of each door, explored anew all his
old haunts, and seemed bravely resolved
to begin life over again. The result was
50 Unexpectedly successful that we were
deceived into the 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 it
was evident that he was entirely blind
for he would run with full force against
the box or other obstruction, and then for
some time atterHard he would proceed
with renewed caution.
DidOs ''voice is still for war, and his
blindness does not make him any less sue
ccsstul in bis duels with intruders. He
even goes abroad in quest of adventures
and comes safely home again. His value
as a mOuScr does not seem to be in the
least diminished. One Of my experiments
as TO his capacity in this direction came
near costing me dear had heard the
gnaMlng OF rat in an old closet where
there lay quantity ofnewspapers. Here
1t was decided to leave Dido over night
and while arranging the papers for that
purpose my hand was suddenly caught
by the claws and teeth of what at the
moment seemed like a tiger. Poor Dido
He really looked ashamed of his blunder
in mistaking my hand for his anticipated
victim. Fortunately the papers served as
shield, 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 ever spoiled good pro-
visions or tried a housekeeper's temper.
1t is well known that the house cat will
tlnd It's way back from distant places to
which it has been carried biindtolded, and
how it performs such teats naturalists
nave never satisfactorily explained. The
theory accepted by some of them is that
the animal takes note Of the successive
odors encountered on the way; that these
leave as distinct series Of images as those
we should receive by the sense of sight
and that, by taking them in the inverse
order from that in which they were re-
ccived, he traces his homeWard route
But in the eat now described the sense Of
smell IS by no means acute, as has been
proved by q variety of methods, and
moreover, although, as one might say,
perpetually blindtolded, he quite uniform
ly chooses the shortest road home with
out reference to the path he may have
taken on leaving the house Curious to
see how far this noming instinct would
extend, took advantage of a fall of snow
that wrapped under its mantle every
familiar 0hlect, concealed all the paths
and deadened every odor and sound.
Taking Dido to a considerable distance
from the house, and, making number of
turns to bewilder him, ! tossed him upon
a drift and quietly awaited results. The
poor creature turned bis sightless orbs
this way and that. and mewed pitcOusly
for help. Finding, at length, that he was
thrown entirely upon his own resources,
he stood mOtionless for about one minute,
and then, to my amazement, made his
way directly through the untrodden snow
to the house door, which it is needless to
add, was promptly opened for the shiver-
ING martyr to scientific investigation, to
whom consolation was forthwith offered
in a brimming bowl Of new milk. My
conclusion, therefore, is that Wallace's in
genlOuS theory Of accounting for orienta
tiOn by what he calls ''brain registration"
willnot explain what has been described,
but that the mysterious homing faculty is
probably independent Of such methods of
gaming knowledge as have been Ordina-
rlly observed, and is analogous to The mi
gratory instinct controlling the long
flights of some species Of birds. H. G.
H0Vey in Scientific American
CATS THAT WENT FISHING.
The Machias Republican tells the fol
lowing fish story Cats usually manifest
such an aversion to water that they avoid
Wettmg their paws, but in the family of
Mr. II. ID. Roberts, of North East Harbor,
there is sagacious pussy which is quite
an adept at fishing and seems to enjoy it,
TOO. She not only gives notice Of the ap-
proach Of frost fish but often catches a
mess at the mouth Of the little brook and
furnishes good breakfast for her owners
They frequently find "a half dozen or
more nicely laid away in the wood-shed
which pussy has caught and carried there,
a distance of twenty rods, one by one
during the night.
A correspondent Of the Mount Desert
Herald tells another cat fish story, Of
1854:
A man by the name Of Rines, dweller
on Squam Island (now Westport) Maine,
was taken by draft for the war with the
French and Indians. Wintery want in
vaded the absent soldiers log cabin on
the shores Of Montsweag Bay, and sorely
pmched the lone wife and b bies at home