The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-03-20
Deafness In White Cats.

because CaJS nave bNCA HCAS
favorite pets in my household, and still
more because the occurrence among
them of deafness was used by Mr.. OAR
swim in his first edition of Animals and
Plants under DEMONSTRATION" as an
illustration of correlated variability. He
was under the impression that white
cats with blue eyes were invariably
deaf.
l had collected number of observa-
fions which / personally made, and l
found that some white cats were deaf
which had the ordinary yellow eyes,
and that some white cas- with blue eyes
could hear perfectly well. have never
heard of deafness in any but a white
cat, and all the deaf white cats | had
personally examined were males.
Therefore. in Nature, 1878, published
brief note pointing out Mr.. Darwin's
error. In his second edition Mr.. Oar
win established two cases of deafness ip
female white cats, so that the conclu-
sions of both of us were upset and this
wholesale destruction of theories has
been completed by the birth in one Of
my feline families of a white kitten.
female, with perfectly yellow eyes, and
absolutely deaf. She lived with us for
two years, and her misfortune was quite
permanent. My conclusions from the
facts observed by myself now may be
formulated in this way, that congenital
deafness is not known to occur in any
animal but the cat, though | am not
quite sure but that one white mouse l
had some years ago was deaf, and that
no cats but those entirely white are eve.
deaf. As female cats are far more
common than males (and this seems
to be true of white cats as well as those
,of other colors, and as | have known
only one deaffemale catf for some twenty
deaf males, think l may assume that
deafness is more common among males
than among females. The color
of the eyes has evidently moth
ING to do with the deafness,
though it has with the color of the
fur, and seems to be dependent on the
same process an arrest of develop
ment The eyes of nearly all kittens
are blue for some weeks after birth,
and the same cause which arrests the
augmentation of the fur arrests in a
very much smaller number the pigmen-
.tary growth in the eye. | have been
told of two cases of complete absence
of pigment in the eyes of two eats
,(albinism) as is seen so commonly in
rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice,
but l have not been able properly to
authenticate them. These cats were
said to be not deaf.
In 1872 ] obtained cat from Hert-
fordshire as an example of the polydac-
tilism which is very common here, anC
when he arrived | found that he wa,
white, that he had one eye bright blue
and the other bright yellow, and thai
he was profoundly deaf, He was by
far the most interesting cat that I have
ever possessed, and must be well re
membered by many members of thi,
society who have favored my house
with their preseace, Us ''Old Fudge,
possessed of all the feline virtues, an(
many of more human type and fret
from vice of every kind. He lived will
us for eleven years, and died last winter
of peritonitis. While living with us we
made many observations concerning his
deafness, and | easily determined tha
it was purely tympanic- that is, he wa,
deaf to impressions conveyed through
the air. but his intelligence could b.
reached by impressions conveyed
buEOU2n SOtltl 3lGuld. w u6u L NdutGl
him to come to me l gave a peculiar
sharp stamp on the floor, and he i'm
mediately responded to the signal. ever
if he was on chair or ia 3le. 1t is very
remarkable that this congenital deaf
ness is in no way associated in the ca
with mutism. Human deaf-mutes gen
orally are those in whom deafness i
cochlear as well as tympanic, and TIN
result of such disease as scarlet feve
in very early life. One other peculiar
ity he had is that for about four year
he suffered from occasional fits of cpl
lepsy of very severe kind. They cam
on always during his sleep, and 70
their first indication had the painful
peculiarly that the cat seized the tip 0
his tail and bit it off, and in this wa
his tail was shortened considerably
Every kind of white animal have KEEP
as a pet has been the subject of cpl
lepsy, and the association is suggestiv
when we are told, as | have been FIRE
lquently, that the disease is unknow
amongst negroes
| sent the body of my old cat t
Prof. Flower for the purpose of havin
an investigation made into the caus
of his deafness. Prof Flower had
most careful investigation of the cond
tion of his ears made by two compt
tent investigators-Dr Cumberbac
and DR.. Heneage Gibbs. The result
briefly stated, is that all the structure
in the ears were normal save the tyn
panic membranes, III which there wer
triangular gaps extending from th
roof to just below the center, the base
of the gaps being directed upwards
and their anterior sides being forme
by the handles of the mallei Tn
gaps appeared to he congenital, an
were quite symmetrical; all the othe
apparatus was normal, and the aud
tory nerves were of normal size an
structure.
The only congenital defect known
the human tympanum is very minut
aperture of rare occurrence, and DIT
TO the pateney of the fissure of Rivinu
The tympanic deficiency in the whit
eat seems to be in no way associate
with this form of arrest
The results of the observation al