Semi=weekly graphic., 1899-10-14
ANIMAL DRUNKARDS.
HORSES. FOWLS. CATS AND
 BEES AS EXAMPLES.
EveR the Cat Likes It's "swig"-one filling Feline That Consumed Two Bottles-A Donkey Gets Piece of "Tipsy Cake"

oNAaOs FA Oohkey 0ets Kleee Of
 "Tipsy Cake"
 In the course of a county court ac- tion tried early this year it transpired that an ailing cat consumed two bot ties of whisky, says Answers. Now, tbat horses enjoy strong drink is a well-known fact, but that the domestic cat is capable of imbibing will come as surprise to many, who imagined that the connection between the cat and the decanter was but stock summer joke for the humorist when seaside
 lodgings are at premium. It was probably to a great extent due to the large quantity of stout that Rory O'More drank, when recovering from, the effects of an accident received at kempton, that he survived to carry off numerous prizes. If prize-winning formed natural corollary to equine drinking, British owners would have reason to look forward to the forth coming season with apprehension. for few months ago there was discovered m Paris a horse belonging to dealer Tn wines that is positive inebriate. The animal, after many bottles of wine had disappeared, was found one day hopelessly intoxicated in it's owners cellars, into which it was in the habit seemingly of making it's way at night and helping itself. The horse was not altogether to blame, for it had been corrupted to a certain extent by hav- Ing it's oats mixed with wine when it was rather overworked, with the result that it acquired habit which grew upon 1t with disastrous results. Some few years ago an action was brought at Oban by poultry keeper against a local distillery company for injuries done to his hens by the said company having allowed intoxicating material to flow into the burn at which his poultry drank, with the result that the said fowls failed to do their duty in laying eggs, and, being more or less always under the influence of drink, refused to eat and grow fat. During the case one of the fowls was produced m court, but it's conduct was such that It had to be elected. Alas! on making an undignified exit, half a glass of whisky was presented to it by a by stander and gratefully accepted by the somewhat ruffled bird, whereupon the condition of the creature became con- s1derably worse. The chicken is not the only bird that indulges. Parrots are notorious for their drinking pro- penslties, particularly the gray African parrot, a specimen of which the writer has seen hopelessly intoxicated and talking the most absolute nonsense. A piece of "tipsy'' cake was presented to a Hampshire donkey some time ago. The animal on being left to it's own devices lost all sense of shame and proceeded to the lalder of it's owner and consumed plum pudding of con- siderable size, two loaves of bread, and among other trif1es a dish of timed apricots-an action quite foreign to the usually well-regulated race The effect of very little spirit made fifty ants, upon which Sir John Lubbock experi- mented couple of years ago, very drunk and almost incapable so much so that twenty-five sober ants, whose attention was drawn to the depravity of their comrades, had the greatest difficulty in carrying the sinners home, though they eventually succeeded in doink so. The locust, however, appears to have a capacity for spirit unparal- leled in the animal kingdom. Some months since an entomologist on a steamer off Gibraltar, wishing to SC. cure a specimen that had alighted on the deck and not having killing bot tie with him, poured raw brandy upon the insect, but with no result. He then partially immersed 1t in more spirit-in a saucer and waited for the end, which did not come. The locust, taking a long, refreshing drink, ab- sorbed all the spirit and did not die until several days elapsed. Bees and wasps are easily made tipsy by mix lure of beer and sugar. The expres- sion to drink like a fish" is nothing short of libel perpetrated upon the fhny tribe, for it has been found that 1 per cent of alcohol will kill gold fish in one hour and thirty minutes. while 20 per cent will act on it's sys- tenn like prussic acid.