Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-16
LIONS FIGHT ONLY
WHEN CORNERED
CIRCUS AGENTS CORRECT AN
ERRONEOUS BELIEF
Certain Wild Animals Exercise Hyp-
nctis Power on Their Prey,
Which Robs Death Of
It's Pain

The school childs definition of thu
equator as "a menagerie lion running
around the world through Africa" indi.
Gates the common association of the
lion with that continent, whereas lions
were and still are common In what
was once Assyria, and In other parts
of the far-away east.
Most of the lions brought to Europe
and this country really do come from
Africa, and are bigger, better looking
of better condition and more decided
traits of character than the lions OF
other parts of the world.
Some of the African specimens in the
Adam Forepaugh-Sell Bros menag-
erie are Of the highest type yet pub
licly exhibited,
II is an error to suppose these mag
nifcent creatures are ferocious, even In
their free state. They are wise and
never wantonly cruel.
Agents of the Forepaugh-SellS firm
who penetrate the wilds to find rare or
perfect animals confirm the amateur
hunters of big game in saying that no
lion will attack man unless 1t is made
desperate by hunger or hurt by a Lad
shot.
A wild lion will usually look at a man
and then walk away and leave him.
But IL a shot stings him, or an attempt
at capture is made he will fight to the
best of his respectable ability, and
won't try to get away unless he comes
off best.
wounded lion will die fighting, and
never give up so long as life Is left,
wherein he parallels the quality that is
most admired in a soldier.
Or. Livlngstone's Experience
Very few people know that this ami
Al, 4, ,frafr IN nf
pain.
DR.. David Livingstone, the great
Scotch missionary and explorer, was
once stricken down by lion that some
of his men had wounded, and in telling
the story in his first book of African
travels he says that while he lay un-
der the creatures paws in expectation
of instant death he had no feeling other
than one of pleasant dreaminess, with
only a faint consciousness of his
wounds.
The men had rushed to his rescue,
and the lion had paused to look up at
them. In a few seconds the men had
speared it through and through, but
DIR. Livingstone did not come back to a
waking realization of his lacerated arm
and shoulder for several minutes after.
Many times later DR.. Livingstone no.
ticed the evidences of this same state
of quiet in animals that were being
killed by lions.
The terror of resistance of the VIC
tins always gave way to quiet sub
mission after the first contact.
The same sort of anaesthetic powe
seems to be shared by all the cat tribe
down to the common house cat. TIL
efforts of a mouse to escape from
cat grow weaker and weaker until the.
cease, or almost cease, and the ca
won't kill until the mouse is quiet.
There is in this an evidence of ma
ture's care for the weaker in the war o.
life upon life that seems to be necessary
to the continuance of existence on those
lower animal planes where the weaker
must die that the stronger may live.
Strange Hypnotism
A strange exercise of this power is
shown in the case of the rabbit and the
weasel. A rabbit could outspeed
weasel with ease if it had the power tC
run away, but when a weasel has
started after rabbit the rabbit cam
run away. It simply takes few feeble
Jumps in an uncertain way, while its
enemy walks over and kills 1t al
leisure.
The rabbit is simply hypnotized into
dull submission, and probably dies
painless DEATH
However, WedSelS are nOI licllS, any
more than snakes are weaSels-onS
all three, and several other creatures
that have to live by killing, seem tC
possess that same numbing or hypnotic
power, and in it's purpose lies one OF
mother natures mercies.
BY study of animals you get
glimpses of natures wonderful work
ings that you can't get in any other
way, so that when you look at the
specimens in a menagerie you are really
looking on strange and fascinating
pages in the book of life, that VIII lead
YOU a long way toward an understand
ing of life itself, if you will try to read
them.
The geological collection of the Fore
paugh- Sells menagerie will form an IN
teresting feature of the circus per-
formance to be given Sunday, Monday
and Tuesday, Sept. %, "a and 25. The
street parade on Monday will have as
an added attraction an especial eXhi
hilton of lions, tigers, polar bears, herd:
of elephants and droves of camels