The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-09

lem has recently attracted the attention
nj the Washington scientists 1t has
been gravely discussed at the Cosmos
Club, which is a social gathering place
of learned men, and various weighty
opinions have been offered on the sub
iect. AS yet no satisfactory solution
of the problem has been found, but
many noteworthy suggestions have
been put forward, writes the Washing
ton correspondent of the St. Louis Re-
public.
Prof. w. j. MCGEE, of the Bureau of
Ethnology, has put on record an opin-
ion TO the effect that the woman's fear
of a mouse goes back to primeval
times-that it is an inheritance from
the monkey-man of an ancient epoch.
The monkey-woman had a great dread
of mice. which she has handed down
TO descendants of her own sex now sur
viving on the earth. These descend
ants, the women of to-day, do not know
why they are afraid of the little TO-
dents. 1t is an instinct evidently de-
rived from remote antiquity.
lie lLSLALCl 6OCS DctCk 10 our DTO-
to-human ancestors" says Prof. Nc
Gee, land we may take it for granted
that woman's remote monkeylike pro-
genitrix was afraid of mice Unques-
tionably the earliest human beings.
properly so-called, lived in trees and
fed upon fruits. They did not seek to
kill animals. but tried to get away
from them. The mouse, which ate their
stored provisions, was the one partic-
ular animal from which they could not
escape.
EARLY human beings were afraid of
animals, and that ancient fear survives
in women to-day, being concentrated
upon the mouse"
The opinion rendered by DIR. D. E.
Salmon, chief of the United States Blu
reau of Animal Industry, is as follows:
Primitive human beings lived in
caves Caves are usually infested by
swarmS of mice. 1t is easy to realize
that the women of the caverns must
have suffered great annoyance from
these little animals, which Scampered
over them in the night, while they were
sleeping with nothing but leaves or the
skins of beasts to cover them. Thus,
at length, they became very nervous
on the subject. and this nervousness
came to be hereditary in their SEX
Some Of the scientific opinions point
to the conclusion that women are not
so much afraid of being bitten by a
mouse as that the animal may get en-
tangled in their clothes. Says Prof,
Otis I. Mason, of the Smithsonian In
stitution:
ut is all a matter of clothing. II a
man was dressed like a woman, he
would be just as much afraid of a
mouse as she is. AS a matter of fact.
men are afraid of a good many things
more than women are. For example,
a man fears r. dead body much more
than a woman does.''
Prof Mason's view is indorsed by DR..
Leonhard Steineger, of the National
Museum, who is the greatest authority
on snakes in this country. He says:
IF woman wore pantaloons, she
would be no more afraid of a mouse
than a man is. The dread in question
has no analogy to a mans fear of
snake"
DR.. A. K. Fisher the government
orn1thologist, indorses the clothing idea.
He says:
"a woman has the same antipathy to
mouse as she has to a snake, because
contact would be unpleasant Some day
IN the not distant future the females
OF our species will not be so afraid of
mice as they are now, because they
VIII wear trousers. From this point of
view, the mouse may be regarded as
an argument for dress reform"
DR.. Frederick w. True, curator of
mammals in the National Museum,
says:
Women fear small animals general
ly. A mouse is very active, and there
fore startling
The opinion of DR.. Stiles, of the De-
rartment of Agriculture, is as follows:
"A woman, as a rule, is afraid of any
small animal. She is more afraid of
small animals than of large ones. I
have known women who were afraid
of mice, and not afraid of rats
DR.. De Schweintz, Bacteriologist of
the Department of Agriculture, says:
MANY men are afraid of mice. I
know man who will jump up on a
chair and yell if he sees one"
DR.. Palmer, Government expert in
Mammals and Birds, 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 to-day has fewer
nerves; she faints and goes into hys-
terics less often than her grandmother
did
Prof. Galloway, Chief of the Govern
ment Bureau of Plant Industry, says:
"a woman has an inherent antipathy
to an animal against which she cannot
defend herself, and from which she
cannot get away. crow is more
afraid of a sparrow than of a hawk,
because the little dicky-bird is so quick
in its movements.
The unscientific but true explanation
of why a woman is afraid of a mouse
is, that she isn't.
Tears, Idle Tears.
Tears, idle tears, I know not what
they mean.
Tears from the depths of some divine
despair
Rise in the heart and gather to the
eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn fields.
And thinking of the days that are no
more.
Fresh as the first beam glittering on
a sail,
That brings our friends UP from the
underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over
one
That sinks with all we love below the
verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no
more.
All, sad and strange as in dark sum-
The earliest pipe Of half-awaken'd
birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The easement slowly grows a glim-
mering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are
no more.