"ONCE CAUGHT, TWICE SHY."—"Many years ago," says Mr. A. Smee, "I caught a common mouse in a trap, and instead of consigning it to the usual watery grave or to the unmerciful claws of the cat, I determined to keep it a prisoner. After a short time, the little mouse made its escape in a room attached to my father's residence in the Bank of England. I did not desire the presence of a wild mouse in this room, and therefore adopted means to secure him. The room was paved with stone, and inclosed with solid walls. There was no hope for him that he would ultimately escape, although there were abundant opportunities for hiding. I set the trap, and baited it with a savory morsel, but day after day no mouse entered. The poor little thing gave unequivocal signs of extreme hunger by gnawing the bladder from one of my chemical bottles. I gradually removed everything from the room that he could possibly eat, but still the old proverb of "Once caught, twice shy," so far applied that he would not enter my trap. After many days, visiting the apartment one morning, the trap was down, the mouse was caught; the pangs of hunger were more intolerable than the terrors of imprisonment. He did not, however, will the unpleasant alternative of entering the trap until he was so nearly starved that his bones almost protruded through his skin; and he freely took bits of food from my fingers through the wires of the cage."—Instinct and Reason, just published.