Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-02-05

But most of these stories are
Just rather irresponsible anec-
dotes, probably highly colored by
the interpretations of those who
recount them. In raw form they
have no scientific value what
soever. When, in fact, they are
effectively investigated, as they
seldom are, the miraculous often
can be eliminated altogether
Everything can be explained on
the basis of extreme acuteness
coloring by the observers.
of certain senses, or emotional
1t has been suggested that
some of the allegedly uncanny
powers attributed to animals are
manifestations of "psi" pos
sessed equally by dogs, cats, birds
and humans but less inhibited
by intellectual ramifications in
the former. Psi, Of course, has
nothing to do with basic intel
ligence. 1t seems, If the as
sumption of its existence is valid,
to be a mental factor quite
apart.
Take Skeptic View
DR.. J. B. Rhine and his as
sociates at Duke take the animal
stories with extreme skepticism
and never have considered them
as evidence for their conten-
tons. Investigation of such
stories is extremely laborious.
expensive. and full Of hidden
pitfalls. They have, however.
been able to investigate very
thoroughly a few such stories
and have found some completely
authenticated cases for which
there is no easy or plausible ex-
PLANTATION.
These fall into two categories
--homing and trailing. The first
concerns animals, especially
dogs, who find their way home
over long distances but through
country already traversed once
in the opposite direction. Such
a case has to be quite miracu-
lous indeed to be considered as
evidence of anything more than
extremely acute observational
powers-however far these may
be beyond anything normal to
humans.
Trailing. where it can be
authenticated. is something
quite different. An animal, more
often a cat than dog. which has
been given away or abandoned
finds its former owners over hun
dreds of miles of territory
through which 1t never has been
and over quite different routes
than those followed by the
humans. The latter considera-
ton throws out completely any
possibility that the animal fol-
lows a scent" which might
linger for months.
Anecdotes Welcomed
Aside from the few investiga-
tons, the Duke parapsycholo-
gists are chiefly interested now
in collecting as many such anec-
dotes as possible. They may in
vestigate many Of them as time
and money are available. Here
are a few thoroughly authenti-
Gated cases, from Mrs. Rhine's
records.
A kitten was born In Northern
California. It was given to
neighbors when its owner moved
to Oklahoma. A year later this
cat joyfully jumped on the
shoulder of its mistress at the
new home in Oklahoma. 1t had
disappeared from California
about eight months before and
all the intervening time had been
making its way over deserts.
mountains and rivers which it
could not possibly have known
anything about.
A natural question is whether
this actually was the same cat.
or one from the Oklahoma
neighborhood Of the same size
and coloring. In this case there
hardly could be a question. This
kitten had been born with a
peculiar bony protuberance on
one of its hips and had been
examined by California veteri-
marian. The malformation. had
been reported in veterinary
journals as something complete