Country Life
ALMO'T every newspaper I have picked up recently has carried news of what can be achieved with animals by the simple device of covering their eyes with one's hand and breathing into their nostrils. I imagine that the people who do such things have a deal of faith and more than a little courage. A docile horse will respond to treatment that does not alarm him too much and put up with some extraordinary behaviour on the part of some- what sentimental animal lovers, but I have handled horses that would let me breathe deeply only at the extreme range of a pair of flying heels, and had I ever got to the point of putting my hand over their eyes in order to breathe into their nostrils, I would surely have had an appreciable piece of my face bitten off. It may work. It may be that some people have a magic breath, but I think it much more likely that animals sense the calm- ness, the confident approach of a handler, and that having this approach the handler might hold his breath, hum a tune or make signs, and none of the behaviour would have any greater or any less effect than breathing in the animal's nostrils. I am a sceptic ip this instance. Moreover, I think it far from healthy to breathe into the face of a hostile cat or dog whether one has the magic of inhaling or exhaling in the cleverest way !
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