The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1909-04-15
"a .. - q.
NIB THOMPSON SETON TELLS OF THE BEAUTIFUL
ECKOGkMY OF The BETTER-GLASS FOX"
like RtT If His EhtS Of Ito Wrd RtYad Ant 10 be p,o1 Nora
kaH-A Type # CtgaI Fidelity that Exceeded O,ybytS ros,
Who Il;ldS Extreme Views en- Hanllgo,


so-as his neighbcrs who indulge in
little pilfering expeditions among the
tarnyards that lure them to wicked
ness IS possibly destined to a rude
awakening Judged by the standards
Of hunan society the fox, 1t appears,
according TO the testimony Of his lat
est biographer, is a very estimable in.
dlyidual indeed. He is possessed of a
considerable degree of wlsdom-but
that has been accorded TO him by a
long line Of nature students and folk.
lore people-chicken forms a very
small portion Of his diet, and as a hus-
band and, to a limited extent, a father
be- is a model Of recdtude and propiety
that it might be well for the degenerate
human species to follow.
A new view of the fox, or, the fox
in the role of hero and uncompro.lis.
ing foe OF polygamy, might be said to
furnish the motive of a series Of pa
pers by Ernest Thompson Seton in The
Century. Domino Reynard of Colour
Town is the title given to these pa.
pers, which have for their purpose, in
the authors own words, Ito show the
man-world how the fox-world lives
and above all to advertise and empha-
size the beautiful monogamy OF the bet.
ter-class fox
In the SinaWas' Camp.
On the one hundred and fifty acres
Of lake and woodland which Mr.. Sc.
tons beautiful estate of Wyndygoul,
Cos Cob, Conn, there are no foxes at
present.. At least a Sunday Times
rI8rter failed to discover the traces
olny as he searched through field and
thicket the other day in the hope OF
finding, not fox, but Mr.. Seton-and
an explanation. There were plenty Of
primitive things in the wilds of Wyndy
goul-deserted Indian tepees, totem
poles with the totems still on them,
prehistoric birds in wood and stone,
bark canoes, abandoned freplaces Of q
frankly aboriginal pattegn-the re-
mains, in fact, Of the camp of the Sin
awas, one of the tribes Of the Seton
Indians" a race Of outdoor devotees
whiGn maintains every summer some.
thing like two thousand camps scat
tered throughout the United States and
Canada. And then there were wild
geese, scores of them-at least they
used to be wild before they struck |.
Notwithstanding and cackling f.
among the autumn leaves that covered |
up the various Indian trails along /
which the Sinawa braves are accustom. |
ed to course their prey in summer OF /
these wild geese, by the way, there is |
much TO be said when 1t comes to an .
estimate of the polygamous and mono /
gamous proclivities Of animals.
Reynard, Hero Of Fiction.
The story OF Domino Reynard," !
said Mr.. Seton when the reporter final.
ly found him among the intricate
mazes Of Wyndygoul, gives the ~
history of fox in the form of tic-
ton. It is fiction founded on fact, on
my own observations, extending over a
period Of many years. Domino Rey. /
nard, the hero of the story, is a COM
poste of some twenty or thirty foxes
that | have watched az they appeared
either in a wild state or tanned in diff
ferent households. Among other moral
qualities which have thus discovered
in the fox is a strong homogeneous ten.
dency in his family relations, and that
is something which l have emphasized
in my Forthcoming story" ]
To thoroughly appreciate Mr.. Seton's
position in regard to this subject of
the marriage relation among animals
one needs to recall a recent paper of
his on the National History Of the
Ten Commandments" In. this paper he
advanced the theory, which he support
ed by incidents taken from his own oh.
seryations, that obedience to five at
least of the Ten Commandments is a
law Of the lower animals. The prom
ised Domino Reynard story will thus,
In away be a practical illustration in
fiction form of what Mr., Seton believes
10 be the foxs innate respect for the
Seventh Commandment.
TT is commonly remarked" he says,
that while the Mosaic law did not ex.
pressly forbid polygamy, it surrounded
with so many restrictions
that by living up to the spirit Of them
The Hebrew was ultimately forced into
pure monogamy. 1t is extremely inter- ]
esting 10 note that the animals in their
blind cropping for an ideal form OF
union have gone through the same
stages and have arrived at exactly the
same conclusion Monogamy is their
best Solution Of the marriage question
and Isl the rule among all the higher