The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-27
A BABY KILLED BY CAT
4 STRANGE CASE IN DENVER IS TOUCHED FOR BY DOCTORS.
Little Doubt That the Animal Caused Death by Inhaling the Breath /. of Its Little Victim.

A special from Denver. Col Ao The New York World says: "
 There is no longer. apparently an, chance to dispute with those who hold the belief that cat can take the breath of sleeping child and cause the child. $ death. The only question now open is how the animal does its deadly work.
 Ever since the recent death of the S. months-old baby of Gustave Brown, in this city. this question has been domi- nant topic in Denver homes
 With a mother the feeling that a cat can harm her offspring is more than a belief; 1t is an instinct which for ages has caused the banishment of the cat :. from the same room with the sleeping baby
 hegs Is, according to the highest med irAi authority. not q shadow of doubt that Baby brown was killed by large pet Maltese cat. /
 The physician who tried to resuscitate the child says death resulted from the lunss.
 Inc Coroner's certificate says death wa. due to sufforation
 The baby and its mother were both in absolutely perfect health. and there is not one chance in a million that the child died of apopiexy or heart, disease.
 The Story of the Mother.
 The circumstances of the child's death are told by the mother IS follows:
 About the middle of the forenoon put the baby in it's carriage for its morning nap. and, As l have always done, left hin in the back yard with the parasol low cred to kecp the light out of his eyes and to prevent the admission of too much cold air. had man engaged to clean the house and was so occupied that l did not run out to look at the baby as often as generally did to see that he was well covered and sleeping quietly.
 At noon when we were at luncheon l left the table to look toward the baby s carriage. and at that moment l saw the parasol moving. l thought the baby had awakened.
 He was so sweet ard happy when he first awakened that I thought for fuo I would run out and steal some of his smiles and play peek-a-boo at him to sec the dear little things delight. I went to the kitchen door, and as l opened it and started down the steps l saw the Maltese puss. the family pet, jump out on the other side of the carriage from under the , parasol over the baby's face. I thought nothing of it, especially as the cat had often jumped into the foot of the car riake and lay there asleep while the baby was taking his nap.
 When I reached the carriage, pushed the parasol away and leaned down to look at the baby there he lay dead. his little mouth slightly open. Not mark of disagreement was on his white face.
 This part of Mrs. Browns story is cor roborated by Mrs. F. S. Knox. neigh bor. who also saw the cat jump down from the baby's carriage. and who ran over to the Brown yard when the moth- CTS scream annouQced that something terrible had happened.
 Dr. F. E. Waxham was hurriedly sum- moned. and two other neighbors helped their friend in the effort to restore life to the child by rubbing and by all the other methods they knew. Dr. Waxham's efforts proved equally fruitless. The child had probable been dead. he said, for some lime.
 How the Doctor Explains It.
 This startling corroboration of the old theory that a cat can cause child 5 death by sucking its breath has called forth many theories and explanations.
 A majority ot people believe that the cat put it's mouth into that of the child who brt athed back the animals breath Till suffocation resulted.
 Dr. Waxham. who was called in the ease. says:
 Tt is my positive belief that death came to the baby in just this way. and to my own satisfaction the old saying is proved. I have heard of death having been caused in this way before. but I have never believed it until now. This is the first instance that ever came under my observation or that have ever heard of directly"
 The assigned cause for this strange tendency in the cat is that the smell of milk in the child's mouth first induces the cat to put its own mouth within that of the child. As 1t gets the taste of the milk it sucks the child's breath. and finally becomes overpowered by an un- eXplainable fascination.
 Those who have heretofore scoffed at the old saying hold that the theory. of Coroner Horan is the most reasonable. This is that the cat lay down upon the childss face, and the little one, unable to draw it's breath. soon suffocated.
 Against this must be placed the argu- meY.t that a strong eight-months-old boy in a struggle for breath would easily dis plsice an animal the size of a cat.
 A Scientific Theory
 The most startling theory from a sci- cutific standpoint is that the breath of all animals of the cat family act as a chloroform to all other species. This the ory is eNplainer in an article published some years ago in a scientific magazine and preserved in a Scrapbook by Assist ant District Attorney T. E. Mcintyre of Denver. The article says
 "A recent published story criticises the the notion that cat sucks away a chld's breath. This is merely an expre- sion erroneous in it's form, of q physio- logical fact All the felidae possess poi sonous breaths. intended by nature to act as an anaesthetic on their prey. If a person cares to experiment by inhaling for instance. cats breath. he can easily realize the truth of this statement. Care fully watch a cat playing with a mouse, You will discover that The mouse does not suffer. but is sort of stupefied. as if by choroform. In the Life of Living stone written by himself If expIora- tlons in Africa. he states that once. when he was seized by a lion. and his arm broken the crunching of the broken arm gave him no pain, so benumbed weer his senses by the animals breath.
 "A cat seeks the child. its soft bed and the warmth of tis body, and lies down on the infant. Its weight impedes respi- ration. its breath anaesthetixes the child.