Evening star., 1932-12-22
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

chology for some one to unravel. Cats
were cats yesterday; they are cats to-
day; they will be cats tomorrow. A
lady psychologist several years ago
wrote an interesting book on them,
with the intriguing title THE Modern
Cat" but. Of course, that was only q
pleasantly.
There are no modern cats.
Cats were old when Bubastes In its
prime made gods Of them.
Every one who looks into q cats eyes
or into the eyes of anv animal, for that
matter, knows this. He feels the spell
Of time. time without beginning and
without ending.
Mans psychology may have changed
a little over the centuries, but the
fixed for, 10! these thousands OF years.
The cows, and the pigs, and the
tigers, and the lions, and all the other
creatures, ranging from the tiny chip
munks to the great hippopotamuses.
are today as they have always been
through recorded history.
It Is this stability of structure which
gives fuel to the anti-evolutiontst, and
about the only answer to it. at least in
unscientific circles, Is that recorded
history, after all. Is only tithe of
time.
Panic fear Is an old emotion Of living
things. It gets its very name from
nature and the creatures Of nature.
One may still see it in its pristine
form when a cat suddenly finds itself
f1oundering around in deep snow,
almost over its head.
Then its eyes take on a wild look,
straight out Of the jungle.
The forms of civilization, acquired
through generations, suddenly depart
to give place to but one thought
escape.
Human friends are forgot, kindly
voices unheard. as the creature scram-
bles through the drifts to a place OF
safety as it sees it.
1t Is here that the stubborn traits
of felis domesticus shine.
If it manages to make its way be-
meath a porch, nothing can induce it
to come out until it is ready. The
same with a tree. The creature will
not come down for all your pleading,
and if you hazard a climb it retreats
still higher in the very face of rescue.
Surely it Is stubborn animal. But
perhaps man, to a yet higher form Of
life, would appear equally immune to
words of reason and pleading. It is not
possible for us, since We are very kin to
all that breathes. to assume a lordly,
superior air in relation to them.
Perhaps the actions Of man in many
of his aspects are quite as devoid of
reason and common sense as those OF
the animals at times seem to us.
Listening to reason Is one Of the
highest developments Of civilization. 1t
can be expected of humanity at certain
times only, preferably when intelligent
Self-interest points the way.
Man is no more inclined at certain
times to listen to the voice CT reason
than the lowliest of animals. The
remembrance Of this stupidity on his
part-for that is what it is-should
ever be kept in mind. in order that he
NAV at least have sympathy with the
failings and unconscious fears Of the
four-legged creatures.
II the animals Go not know as much
as we do. and therefore cannot fear
many things which we fear, perhaps
their old instructive fears, for the queer
purposes Of nature. are far more pene-
trating than our own along the same
lines.
They need and surely get from their
friends among us ready sympathy
and understanding, especially a. those
times When nature sees fit to surprise
them with one of her old practical
Jokes. .