"WHO SAID CATS?"

Evening Star, Issue 19792, 16 February 1928, Page 1

"WHO SAID CATS?"

FAMOUS PEOPLE'S PET AVERSION The story is told of how one of Napoleon’s aides-de-camp, hearing urgent calls for assistance in the middle ot the night, rushed to the great soldiers apartment. There he found Napoleon in a stale bordering on terror, thrusting his sword frantically through Iho tqpestries that draped the walls. Suspecting an assassin, (he otticer quickly searched the mom and discovered—a cat. How did Napoleon know the cat was there? And why was lie so much alarmed? Apparently because be was an ailurophobo; one of those people of whom fchylock speaks: “ Some men . . . arc mad if they behold a cat.” Napoleon's case is similar to that of the gallant Highland chieftain mentioned in Sir Waller Scott's hook on witchcraft, who would turn all the colors of his plaid if a cat happened to be in the room with him, even though lie did not see it. Another typical ailurophobc was Henry HI., a king who could not face a cat without becoming violently agitated. Poor Boswell was a sufferer, too, and he had some uneasy moments on account of Dr Johnson's favorite Hodge, until the attraction of the doctor overcame the repulsion of the cat. And the poet Ronsard has admitted that no sooner did he sec a cal than bo must turn and fly. Another subject of this mysterious complaint was Lord Roberts. At one dinner party the guests noticed that be was ill at ease. “I have the cat feeling,” be explained ; “ there must be a cat in the room.” A thorough search was made without result, and then, (he window curtain being withdrawn, a cat wis discovered sitting outside on the sill. As soon as this was driven away Lord Roberts regained his composure. There are many such cases on record, the majority so well authenticated that it is unnecessary to place undue stress on the storytold in an early ’Spectator’ of the man who could never pass an inn signboard depicting a cat—a very frequent sign in those days—without feeling faint and in need of stimulant. As to the explanation of (he mystery, probably the supposed relation between cats and witches, a belief lasting for centuries, has bred antipathy in many people. The simpler form of (he complaint, which is akin to asthma, may result from the animal’s smell. But the more serious form, which causes brave men to become terrified, is less accountable. Nor is it easy to understand how the presence of a hidden cat is discovered. Dr S. Weir Mitchell, who investigated many cases, concluded that ailurophobes are particularly’ sensitive to the cat’s odor, and thus scent the animal when it is imperceptible to normal people; but another theory is that the cat Is detected! by its electricity. 1