Evening star., 1895-03-23
WHY WOMEN FEAR MICE
Some Theories Expressed by Scientists on a
Much Disputed Subject.
Repugnance of the Sex to the Little
Rodents - Some Grounds on
Which 1t In Based.

Written Exclusively for The Evening Star.
Why Is a woman afraid of mouse?
The sex is getting so advanced nowadays
that it is high time this question should be
cleared up. If the fact-supposing it to be
a facts due to an inherent lack of
strength of mind or of nerve. that should
be determined. So long as 1t remains un-
settled, no argument will be available for
the purpose of squelching ill-bred and en-
yicus males who are disposed to jeer and
caviI at the efforts which lovely woman is
making to enlarge her sphere.
Accordingly, the writer has propounded
the query to a number Of the most emf
nent scientists in this country. It Is to be
hored that boiling down of their various
opinions will result In something salts
factory. In order that the views obtained
Should have as wide scope as possible.
wise men in many branches of knowledge
were addressed on the subject
DR.. D. E. Salmon of the United States
bureau of animal industry says: 'Primi-
tive human beings lived in caves. Caves
are usually infested by swarms of mice.
1t is easily to be understood that the wo-
men of the caverns must have suffered
great annoyance from mice, which scamp
cred over them in the night. while they
were sleeping with nothing but leaves or
the skins of animals to cover them. Thus,
at length, they became very nervous on
the subject, and this nervousness became
hereditary in their SEX
DR.. Stiles, the expert in animal parasites.
Sc VS.: "a woman, as a rule, is afraid of
any small animal. She Is more afraid of
small animals than of large animals. I
have known women who were afraid of
mice and not afraid of rats. No, the fear
81 ske. In fact. man is not afraid of a
snake. He does not run away from a
snake, but has an impulse to kill 1t every
time he sees one. 1t is a case of antip-
athy."
Prof. Otis T. Mason, the anthropologist,
says: '1f man was dressed like wo-
man he would be just as much afraid Of a
house as she is. Men are more afraid of
a good many things than women are. A
nan fears a dead body more than a wo-
man does. All over the world tradition
gov erns that women must take care Of the
dead, and SO they have got used to it. In
the south people of both sexes in the
country put grass or cotton In their ears
to keep thousand-leggers from walking
in
DR.. Leonhard Stejneger, the authority on
81 axes, says: 81 agree with Prof. Mason.
If a woman wore pants she would not be
more afraid Of a mouse than man is"
Mr.. Frederick w. True, curator of NAM
mails in the National Museum, says: "Wo-
men fear small animals generally. A
mouse is very active and therefore start
ling"
DIR. InOnaS "A. IdyioF, HlcroscOpfSt OF
the Department Of Agriculture, says:
"It is largely a matter of education, I
believe. Mothers teach their little girls to
BE- afraid Of mice. In Germany women
carry hods Of bricks up ladders. II they
see q rat they will throw a brick at it,
DR.. De Schweinitz, bacteriologist, says:
MANY men are afraid of mice. know a
man who will Jump up in chair and yell
if he sees one."
DR.. Lamson Scribner, who knows more
about grasses than anybody else in this
country. says:
1.-THE matter has a relation to skirts.
There is no telling what the mouse will
do. It would be interesting to know If
women were afraid of mice before they
were skirts"
Dr. Palmer, ornithologist, says:
"Women are not so much afraid Of mice
as they used to be. They know more about
natural history than formerly; they are
more athletic and less afraid Of being hurt.
The woman of today has fewer nerves;
1t is not so fashionable to have them. She