Ordinarily the nursing instinct in young mammals is very transitory, being readily suppressed and superseded by the developing habits of obtaining food in other ways, and with its disappearance the co-ordinated group of reflexes involved in sucking seems in many species to be completely lost. In the case of man, however, recent investigations indicate that the persistence of this instinct in some perverted form into adult life is by no means uncommon. This brings to the front the question of

more »

... existence of a similar condition in animals. The following observations upon the continuation of the sucking reflexes into the adult life of the cat may be of interest in this 'connection, although little insight into the causes of the behavior has been obtained. The first case of this sort, coming to my attention some years ago, was that of an adult male cat (J), two years old, which persisted in sucking at the fur and skin of other cats, pets in the same household. The cats were accustomed to lie together in the sun or before the fire, washing each-other's faces and exchanging other amities. In such friendly overtures J was particularly active, but he always ended his ministrations by first licking the fur of his companion's throat until it was thoroughly wet and then applying his lips to the exposed skin and sucking vigorously. If uninterrupted he would lie thus for hours and if he were pulled away suddenly, a faint oozing of blood was generally visible on his companion's throat where his lips had been applied. Since the behavior was somewhat detrimental to the other cats it was broken up by the application of Cayenne pepper to their throats. The second case is more interesting since a little of its history is known. In the summer of 1913 a kitten was taken from her mother before she had learned to drink and for several days was fed by hand, sucking at bits of rag soaked in milk. She was 293