Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1905-07-20

a most terrific cold in the head
would suddenly ensue.
"She would sneeze time after
time, her eyes water profusely and
her face become flushed. The vio-
lenee would subside after putting
the cat away. leaving no trace visi-
bic the next morning. IL has al
ways been considered q modified
form Of her great grandfather s
antipathy.'
DIR. S., physician of distinc-
tion. writes: I am not now aware
of the paesence of q cat when il Is
not in sight or known to be near.
bat on some occasions of my life
have beon so uncomfortable that I
have feared q cat must be in the
room and on those occasions a cat
has always been found.
/ could never make q friend of
a man or woman who loved fonding
cats, and / have often had 10 get q
patient TO Danish the cat from the
room before l could give my mind
to her symptoms.
my wife reminds me OF one oc-
casion, about 1892, when she and |
were visiting astranger. remark
ed during the absence OF the hostess
that was certain there must be a
cat in the room. Eventually a
black cat appeared from under the
sofa.
~ have a dread, even to nausea;
the whole subject seems TO me dis
gusting and | feel almost seasick as
| dictate this.
An absolutely trustworthy wit
ness, Miss c., relates to me this in
cident: i want to tell you of a
cousin of mine, a woman strong
minded and self-reliant as any one
! have ever known and apparently
afraid Of nothing, but with an abso-
lutte antipathy to a cat.
ION one occasion we arrived in
Montreal quite late at night, and on
reaching the hotel were taken into
a very long dining room, with
lights only on the table where we
were seated. She suddenly turned
pale and exclaimed: There is a
cat in this room. And in spite of
the walters assu ring her that he
had not seen cat since he had been
there, and was quite sure there was
none, she got paler and paler, and,
trembling all over continued to say:
There is, there is a cat here, and
after much searching cat was
found up in the corner and at the
extreme other end of the ROOM"
DR.. Mitchell's conclusion are:
There are these classes of persons
who suffer from cats:
Il. As.hmatics-cat asthma.
y. Cat fear, with or without Sc
quent, excessive, emotional manifes-
tations, and only on sight.
- Cat fear. Power to be sure
an unseen cat is near. Symptoms
as in Class 2, and apt to beextreme.
"A. Those of the last class can
detect the cat by smell, or many
sometimes and not always.
"5. Cases occur in which the con-
sciousness of ca: present through
its smell once existed, but does not
now, and yet the ability TO detect
unseen cats remains.
IS. 1t is therefore likely that the
cat emanations may affect the ner.
vous system through the nasal
membrane, although unrecognized
as odors.
why these emanations should, il
plainly perceived as due to cats
cause certain symptoms in those
who dread cats, is readily under
stood.
The ultimate cause OF unreason.
able terror of cats | cannot explain,
ITO be told a cat is near wher
none is in the room may occasion
the same unpleasant consequence az
when the Cat is present.
1T is, perhaps, worthy OF note
how many Of the victims of cat fear
declare that even strange cats seen
to have an unusual desire TO bt
near them, jump on their laps anC
follow them.