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Show LANGUAGE OF CATS FRENCH PROFEASOR 0ECLARE9 HE UNDERSTANDS IT. He Asserts, Mortover, That Ha Haa Held Many Pltaaant Con-'orsationa With His Fallna Friends Soma Believe Be-lieve tha Animal Haa a Soul, A French professor, after much study, has announced to tho world that he has discovered the InnxunKe of cats. He asserts, quite seriously, thai ho h held many plenannt convocations wi'h his feline friends and that their Inncuauo Is most Interesting. Kvery llrr;o the pmfeor meet a strange est he Irles to enter into rcmverntion wlill It, eiidetivorllig thereby to In- crease his vocabulury and to learn as many as poasliilo of the llttlu Idioms of cat talk. The professor has not yet completed his dictionary of ralalogy. It will not bo a very bulky book, for so far as known the cat vocabulary has Ita limitations. There aro a few words, however, that are unmlatnkahlo. When a rat says "I'urrlcu" very softly, he means "I love you. You aro really very good to inn." That la when ho la talking to Lis human friends. When A mother rat snya that sclfFnme word, only rolling roll-ing tho r, and giving a rising Inflection Inflec-tion to tha lost syllable. It la a call to her babies. As such It expresses a variety of things. Of course, It signifies maternal mater-nal lore. It also means, "Come here, I want to aee you." Or It may mean, "Hurry, there Is a dog coming!" Thla It particularly tha meaning when It Is given sharply, on a IiIkIi key, and uttered ut-tered several times ln swltt succession. succes-sion. Whon S rat wauls fond he says "Aello." and when he wants water ho ays "Allloo.M The difference ln Bound ia alight, but It la there Just tha same. When Grimalkin waula milk be .makes A soft little "La" sound, and arisen, he wishes good, raw meat he baa a queer little half-uttered "1)1." which may be a contraction of blood. Thla, however, the professor haa not Vet decided. A delicacy of which hla catshlp ta so fond that he precedes eating by admiration, ad-miration, as, for example, A mouse, la asked for by tha word which means affection and also raw meat. He asks fur daillcaclee by saying "Turrlou-bl!" It la almost useless to explain tha battle cry of Uie rat It ta a sound familiar to all ear a and one which may ba recognised by any porson, whether an expert of the feline Uiugue However, there are varloua stages of the battle cry, ranging trora a aharp note of warning to a prolonged bowl of rage. Of all tha cat s erica the one for human aid la the simplest and the most pathetic. "It la Just "Yew," uttered ut-tered softly, but It contains a world of pathos. It ta a call wblcb only a ! heart of atone could hear unmoved. Betwoon the ordinary cry of greet- lV- .K --yi tug and the cry of dislike there la a difference of accent only, but It Is ao marked that no one could possibly mistake ono sound for tho other. "Meow," says pussy, when she greota you, and she stretches her graceful body and rubs acalnst you. It la a very soothing, purring sound, and carries more slunlllcniico than a more "Hollo." It says. "Oh, there you are! I'm ao glad to see you. I've boon looking for you und hoping you'd come lo see me soon." Hut "Meow." with an accent on the drat syllable and tho last very alao-cato, alao-cato, means hatred and di-flanco. Could linguistically ambitious per soua and those every ready to adopt a new fad bo suHlcleutly attracted by tha French prufesaor's studies to emulate emu-late hla example and study the cat language the standard of humanity would bo greatly ralaod. In order to atudy cat language, on would have to atudy the cata them- salves and to atudy tha cata would mean to appreciate them and ultimately ulti-mately to help them to regain a tithe of the former respect vehlch waa once thelra. Cat lovers simply lnugh at the fuss which bns been made over theFreuch professor's announcement "A man has discovered that cata have a languar of their own!" claimed a well-known club woman whoso eats aro famous, "What a very wonderful person I Does ha claim to bo original In his discovery? Why, everyone who ever owned a rat and cared for It knows that cats talk. Thiy don't need to learn to tnlk. We need to learn to llntcn and to under-stand. under-stand. Cats, dogs, horses, all animals talk to us evory day, and the majority major-ity of it go about the world with our ears sealed to their words. When wo 1" nrn to open nur ears and hear what they hnvo to say, we shall he wiser nml they will be Jiappler, for they v.111 then come nearer having Juat treatment accorded them. It la partly Ignorance which causes inhumanity. Tho avcrnKC human being la cruel only because bo la Ignorant of the nay to be kind. ' No, Indeed, tho world doesn't need to learn from the feet of a trench professor pro-fessor that rata have a lar.gusgo. All it nei-da to do Is to open Its eyes to and Its enrs to hear and use Its brains to understand." Ho you belli vo animals have souls? Lota of wise people do. A certain New York clergyman docs. No ono can provo that they do not. No one baa proven reincarnation to bo fulso. Therefore, the soul of an ancestor mny occupy the body of your dog or your rat. You would shrink from tho Idea of 111 using your grandmother. I Still there Is a vanue chance that her soul Inhabits Tahhy'a furry body. The chance Is qtilto strong enough to make you very Accent In your treatment treat-ment of Tabby. Cats are clairvoyant In their nature. If nothing elsn, then, superstition alone should compel for them kind treatment. Their cries on tho back fence may be tho walling of weary, rostlcsa souls. Wose souls no ono can tell. Hut any walling soul Is worthy of morn Indulgence than Is manifest by a hailstorm of boots and pottles, lumps of coal and lurid language. ' |