MISANTHROPIA: THE BOOK

This is a one of a kind print of MISANTHROPIA: Death, Lies, Human Folly & Personal Fetishes made in MMXII. Hardcover, 221 pages.

Council of Trent: Rules on Prohibited Books

TEN RULES CONCERNING PROHIBITED BOOKS DRAWN UP BY THE FATHERS CHOSEN BY THE COUNCIL OF TRENT AND APPROVED BY POPE PIUS [1]

I

All books which have been condemned either by the supreme pontiffs or by ecumenical councils before the year 1515 and are not contained in this list, shall be considered condemned in the same manner as they were formerly condemned.

II

The books of those heresiarchs, who after the aforesaid year originated or revived heresies, as well as of those who are or have been the heads or leaders of heretics, as Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Balthasar Friedberg, Schwenkfeld, and others like these, whatever may be their name, title or nature of their heresy, are absolutely forbidden. The books of other heretics, however, which deal professedly with religion are absolutely condemned. Those on the other hand, which do not deal with religion and have by order of the bishops and inquisitors been examined by Catholic theologians and approved by them, are permitted. Likewise, Catholic books written by those who afterward fell into heresy, as well as by those who after their fall returned to the bosom of the Church, may be permitted if they have been approved by the theological faculty of a Catholic university or by the general inquisition.

III

The translations of writers, also ecclesiastical, which have till now been edited by condemned authors, are permitted provided they contain nothing contrary to sound doctrine. Translations of the books of the Old Testament may in the judgment of the bishop be permitted to learned and pious men only, provided such translations are used only as elucidations of the Vulgate Edition for the understanding of the Holy Scriptures and not as the sound text. Translations of the New Testament made by authors of the first class of this list shall be permitted to no one, since great danger and little usefulness usually results to readers from their perusal. But if with such translations as are permitted or with the Vulgate Edition some annotations are circulated, these may also, after the suspected passages have been expunged by the theological faculty of some Catholic university or by the general inquisition, be permitted to those to whom the translations are permitted. Under these circumstances the entire volume of the Sacred Books, which is commonly called the or parts of it, may be permitted to pious and learned men. From the Bibles of Isidore Clarius of Brescia, however, the preface and introduction are to be removed, and no one shall regard its text as the text of the Vulgate Edition.

IV

Since it is clear from experience that if the Sacred Books are permitted everywhere and without discrimination in the vernacular, there will by reason of the boldness of men arise therefrom more harm than good, the matter is in this respect left to the judgment of the bishop or inquisitor, who may with the advice of the pastor or confessor permit the reading of the Sacred Books translated into the vernacular by Catholic authors to those who they know will derive from such reading no harm but rather an increase of faith and piety, which permission they must have in writing. Those, however, who presume to read or possess them without such permission may not receive absolution from their sins till they have handed them over to the ordinary. Bookdealers who sell or in any other way supply Bibles written in the vernacular to anyone who has not this permission, shall lose the price of the books, which is to be applied by the bishop to pious purposes, and in keeping with the nature of the crime they shall be subject to other penalties which are left to the judgment of the same bishop. Regulars who have not the permission of their superiors may not read or purchase them.

V

Those books which sometimes produce the works of heretical authors, in which these add little or nothing of their own but rather collect therein the sayings of others, as lexicons, concordances, apothegms, parables, tables of contents and such like, are permitted if whatever needs to be eliminated in the additions is removed and corrected in accordance with the suggestions of the bishop, the inquisitor and Catholic theologians.

VI

Books which deal in the vernacular with the controversies between Catholics and heretics of our time may not be permitted indiscriminately, but the same is to be observed with regard to them what has been decreed concerning Bibles written in the vernacular. There is no reason, however, why those should be prohibited which have been written in the vernacular for the purpose of pointing out the right way to live, to contemplate, to confess, and similar purposes, if they contain sound doctrine, just as popular sermons in the vernacular are not prohibited. But if hitherto in some kingdom or province certain books have been prohibited because they contained matter the reading of which would be of no benefit to all indiscriminately, these may, if their authors are Catholic, be permitted by the bishop and inquisitor after they have been corrected.

VII

Books which professedly deal with, narrate or teach things lascivious or obscene are absolutely prohibited, since not only the matter of faith but also that of morals, which are usually easily corrupted through the reading of such books, must be taken into consideration, and those who possess them are to be severely punished by the bishops. Ancient books written by heathens may by reason of their elegance and quality of style be permitted, but may by no means be read to children.

VIII

Books whose chief contents are good but in which some things have incidentally been inserted which have reference to heresy, ungodliness, divination or superstition, may be permitted if by the authority of the general inquisition they have been purged by Catholic theologians. The same decision holds good with regard to prefaces, summaries or annotations which are added by condemned authors to books not condemned. Hereafter, however, these shall not be printed till they have been corrected.

IX

All books and writings dealing with geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, oneiromancy, chiromancy, necromancy, or with sortilege, mixing of poisons, augury, auspices, sorcery, magic arts, are absolutely repudiated. The bishops shall diligently see to it that books, treatises, catalogues determining destiny by astrology, which in the matter of future events, consequences, or fortuitous occurrences, or of actions that depend on the human will, attempt to affirm something as certain to take place, are not read or possessed.[2] Permitted, on the other hand, are the opinions and natural observations which have been written in the interest of navigation, agriculture or the medical art.

X

In the printing of books or other writings is to be observed what was decreed in the tenth session of the Lateran Council under Leo X.[3] Wherefore, if in the fair city of Rome any book is to be printed, it shall first be examined by the vicar of the supreme pontiff and by the Master of the Sacred Palace or by the persons appointed by our most holy Lord. In other localities this approbation and examination shall pertain to the bishop or to one having a knowledge of the book or writing to be printed appointed by the bishop and to the inquisitor of the city or diocese in which the printing is done, and it shall be approved by the signature of their own hand, free of charge and without delay under the penalties and censures contained in the same decree, with the observance of this rule and condition that an authentic copy of the book to be printed, undersigned by the author's hand, remain with the examiner. Those who circulate books in manuscript form before they have been examined and approved, shall in the judgment of the Fathers delegated by the council be subject to the same penalties as the printers, and those who possess and read them shall, unless they make known the authors, be themselves regarded as the authors. The approbation of such books shall be given in writing and must appear authentically in the front of the written or printed book and the examination, approbation and other things must be done free of charge. Moreover, in all cities and dioceses the houses or places where the art of printing is carried on and the libraries offering books for sale, shall be visited often by persons appointed for this purpose by the bishop or his vicar and also by the inquisitor, so that nothing that is prohibited be printed, sold or possessed. All book-dealers and venders of books shall have in their libraries a list of the books which they have for sale subscribed by the said persons, and without the permission of the same appointed persons they may not under penalties of confiscation of the books and other penalties to be imposed in the judgment of the bishops and inquisitors, possess or sell or in any other manner whatsoever supply other books. Venders, readers and printers shall be punished according to the judgment of the same. If anyone brings into any city any books whatsoever he shall be bound to give notice thereof to the same delegated persons, or in case a public place is provided for wares of that kind, then the public officials of that place shall notify the aforesaid persons that books have been brought in. But let no one dare give to anyone a book to read which he himself or another has brought into the city or in any way dispose of or loan it, unless he has first exhibited the book and obtained the permission of the persons appointed, or unless it is well known that the reading of the book is permitted to all. The same shall be observed by heirs and executors of last wills, so, namely, that they exhibit the books left by those deceased, or a list of them, to the persons delegated and obtain from them permission before they use them or in any way transfer them to other persons. In each and all of such cases let a penalty be prescribed, covering either the confiscation of books or in the judgment of the bishops or inquisitors another that is in keeping with the degree of the contumacy or the character of the offense.

With reference to those books which the delegated Fathers have examined and expurgated or have caused to be expurgated, or under certain conditions have permitted to be printed again, the book-dealers as well as others shall observe whatever is known to have been prescribed by them. The bishops and general inquisitors, however, in view of the authority which they have, are free to prohibit even those books which appear to be permitted by these rules, if they should deem this advisable in their kingdoms, provinces or dioceses. Moreover, the secretary of those delegated has by order of our most holy Lord [the pope] to hand over in writing to the notary of the holy universal Roman inquisition the names of the books which have been expurgated by the delegated Fathers as well as the names of those to whom they committed this task.

Finally, all the faithful are commanded not to presume to read or possess any books contrary to the prescriptions of these rules or the prohibition of this list. And if anyone should read or possess books by heretics or writings by any author condemned and prohibited by reason of heresy or suspicion of false teaching, he incurs immediately the sentence of excommunication. He, on the other hand, who reads or possesses books prohibited under another name shall, besides incurring the guilt of mortal sin, be severely punished according to the judgment of the bishops.

NOTES

1 Cf. Sess. XXV, decree concerning the index of books.

2 For the mode of procedure suggested to the bishops and local inquisitors, cf. the bull , of Sixtus V, 5 Jan., 1586.

3 Fifth Lateran, Hardouin, IX, pp. 1775-77; Schroeder, Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils, pp. 504, 644 f.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/trent-booksrules.asp

Aleister Crowley - Leah Sublime

http://archive.org/stream/LeahSublime/sublime#page/n0/mode/2up

Church minister warns witchcraft is thriving - in WALES (home to 83 witches, 93 satanists and the site of an exorcism)

He forgot to mention there are also a number of Christians, Muslims, Catholics and Protestants living in Wales... Now THAT is something to really be frightened of!

A church minister has revealed witchcraft is very much alive and well in his Welsh rural parishes as he warns against becmoning involved in the occult. Reverend Felix Aubel has spoken of how he as come across witches, the use of effigies and the 'evil eye' during his career in the Welsh countryside. He has detailed a number of spine-tingling chilling tales after the latest figures in the 2011 census revealed 83 witches and 93 satanists are living in Wales.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255220/Church-minister-Reverend-Felix-Aubel-warns-witchcraft-thriving--WALES-home-83-witches-93-satanists-site-exorcism.html

'In Cold Blood' killers could be linked to mass murder in Florida

Two men were arrested, charged and executed in the Kansas case, and writer Truman Capote captured the horrific tale in his iconic true crime book, "In Cold Blood." The Florida murder of two parents and two children was investigated by dozens of detectives over the years, but it remained unsolved. Now, a detective is trying to prove that the men who were executed in Kansas were also responsible for the Florida slayings. "It's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle," said Sarasota County Sheriff's detective Kimberly McGath, who began re-investigating the murders of Cliff and Christine Walker and their two young children in 2007. McGath said there is evidence that points to two men who are now in a Kansas cemetery for executed prisoners: Perry Smith and Richard Hickock.

http://www.goupstate.com/article/20121205/WIRE/121209871/1083/ARTICLES?Title=-In-Cold-Blood-killers-could-be-linked-to-mass-murder-in-Florida-

Mark Riddick - Compendium of Death

http://www.doomentia.com/products/distro/3.html

The Flood (To All Evangelists)

Rise in your haughty pulpits;
Preach with a godly ire!
You turn my blood to venom;
You turn my soul to fire.
Lords of the fading darkness,
Nursing a crumbling race,
This is the bitter gauntlet
I hurl in your face:
That the day of your rule is over,
And the tribes begin to rise,
As a sleeping giant, stirring,
Opens his drowsy eyes.
Under the ice are gathering
Floods that were born in hell,
And the slow, great waves are coiling,
With the power to rebel.
You dance with a broken sceptre,
You squeak on a barren throne,
And your temples rise and topple
And crumble to shattered stone.
The day of light is coming,
But you would bide within the dark;
You seek to drag us backward-
Men of darkness, mark!
The day shall come of our fury
When we hurl all chains aside,
And the flood will beat you under
With the fury of its tide.

-Robert E. howard

Fury over Mein Kampf in Swiss bookshops

We're living in an age where people are scared of books; words. Here in the Netherlands the book is banned too. If we are scared of books, imagine if someone would read the bible or koran... and believe in it and do what is said in there! Wait... that did happen! As long as bibles are sold, any book on any topic should be allowed to be sold too, to anyone who is interested.

Anti-racism groups have expressed indignation that Hitler’s book, “Mein Kampf” (“My Struggle”) is freely available in bookstores in the Swiss region of Romandie.

“How can the works on the origin of the Holocaust, written by the instigator of the worst horrors, be found on bookstore shelves?” asked lawyer and Geneva President of the League against Racism and Anti-Semitism, Philippe Kenel.

Yet according to booksellers, there is still demand for the controversial book, which was written by the Nazi leader in the 1920s, before his rise to power. Unlike in Germany, the book is not banned from sale in Switzerland.

http://www.thelocal.ch/3066/20120411/

Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents

Built on five years of research, Nightmare USA explores the development of America's subterranean horror film industry, spotlighting some of the wildest films imaginable from an era unchecked by censorship or 'good taste.' Ranging from cult favourites like I Drink Your Blood to stylish mind-benders like Messiah of Evil and ultra-violent shockers like Don't Go in the House, Nightmare USA goes where no other in-depth study has gone before, revealing the fascinating true stories behind classics and obscurities alike. Stephen Thrower, author of Beyond Terror, the definitive book on Italian gore maestro Lucio Fulci, has explored the attics and cellars of American cinema, delved beneath the floorboards, peered between the walls, searching for the strangest, most exotic cine-lifeforms... Nightmare USA is the reader's guide to what lies beyond the mainstream of American horror, dispelling the shadows to meet the men and women behind fifteen years of screen terror: the Exploitation Independents!

This massive overview of the Horror genre's development through the 1970s and 1980s features:

-In-depth EXCLUSIVE interviews with twenty-five grindhouse movie makers, many of whom are discussing their work for the first time ever in print, including David Durston (I Drink Your Blood), Robert Endelson (Fight for Your Life), Frederick Friedel (Axe), Don Jones (Schoolgirls in Chains); and Joseph Ellison (Don't Go in the House).

-Over 175 individual films reviewed, with full cast and crew credits compiled by world-renowned cinema archivist Julian Grainger.

-Vast quantities of previously unpublished stills, posters, press-books, plus behind-the-scenes photographs from the filmmakers' own collections.

More Info: http://www.fabpress.com/vsearch.php?CO=FAB070

The year of vengeance: How neighbours turned on each other as anarchy erupted in Europe in the aftermath of WWII

Just imagine living in a world in which law and order have broken down completely: a world in which there is no authority, no rules and no sanctions.

In the bombed-out ruins of Europe’s cities, feral gangs scavenge for food. Old men are murdered for their clothes, their watches or even their boots. Women are mercilessly raped, many several times a night.

Neighbour turns on neighbour; old friends become deadly enemies. And the wrong surname, even the wrong accent, can get you killed.

It sounds like the stuff of nightmares. But for hundreds of millions of Europeans, many of them now gentle, respectable pensioners, this was daily reality in the desperate months after the end of World War II.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2119589/The-year-vengeance.html

'Mein Kampf' Extracts To Be Sold in Germany

A British publisher plans to sell excerpts from Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in Germany, claiming he wants to demystify the infamous book. But the controversial move could provoke a legal dispute with the Bavarian government, which owns the copyright and refuses reprint permission.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,809367,00.html

Lovecraft : Fear of the Unknown ( 2008 )

Hell

The Temple of the Muses: A great blogpost by BibliOdyssey.

About the Holy Bible

by Robert G. Ingersoll

1894

Somebody ought to tell the truth about the Bible. The preachers dare not, because they would be driven from their pulpits. Professors in colleges dare not, because they would lose their salaries. Politicians dare not. They would be defeated. Editors dare not. They would lose subscribers. Merchants dare not, because they might lose customers. Men of fashion dare not, fearing that they would lose caste. Even clerks dare not, because they might be discharged. And so I thought I would do it myself.

Read on!

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Harrison Bergeron" is a satirical, dystopian science fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut and first published in October 1961. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the story was re-published in the author's collection Welcome to the Monkey House in 1968.

Plot summary

The plot is set in the year 2081. Due to the 211th, 212th and 213th Amendments to the Constitution of America, all Americans are mandated equal. “They were not only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way." In America no one is more intelligent than anyone else, no one is better looking or more athletic than anyone else. In order to stop any sort of competition in society these measures are enforced by the United States Handicapper General. The current Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, and her team of agents have developed several forms of "handicaps." Beautiful people are forced to wear masks, athletic people have to carry weights, and intelligent people have to wear radios in their ears that interrupt thoughts with loud noises. In April 2081 the agents of the Handicapper General take fourteen-year-old Harrison Bergeron away from his parents, George and Hazel. The couple is not aware of the full extent of that tragedy because Hazel is of average intelligence and George has to wear the mental handicap radio. Later that day the two are watching ballerinas on television where the talented dancers have weights on their arms and feet. The show is interrupted by a bulletin announcing that Harrison Bergeron has escaped from prison. A picture of Harrison wearing several handicaps is shown. Suddenly the photo is replaced by images of Harrison storming the studio. Ripping off all his handicaps he declares that he is the emperor and a greater ruler than anyone else. He chooses one of the ballerinas as his empress, liberates her from her handicaps, and starts to dance with her. They dance until they kiss the ceiling. A few seconds later Diana Moon Glampers enters the studio and kills Harrison and his empress with a shotgun, and then the screen goes dark. George Bergeron misses these events, having left to get a beer. He returns and finds Hazel crying on the couch. She says that something sad must have happened on TV, but that she cannot remember what it was. George tells her to forget about sad things.

Wikipedia

2081

Movie info: http://www.finallyequal.com/


2081 Trailer from 2081 on Vimeo.

Ambrose Bierce on Civilization

From the book A Cynic Looks at Life Chapter I Paragraph I

The question "Does civilization civilize?" is a fine example of petitio principii, and decides itself in the affirmative; for civilization must needs do that from the doing of which it has its name. But it is not necessary to suppose that he who propounds is either unconscious of his lapse in logic or desirous of digging a pitfall for the feet of those who discuss; I take it he simply wishes to put the matter in an impressive way, and relies upon a certain degree of intelligence in the interpretation.

Concerning uncivilized peoples we know but little except what we are told by travelers--who, speaking generally, can know very little but the fact of uncivilization, as shown in externals and irrelevances, and are moreover, greatly given to lying. From the savages we hear very little. Judging them in all things by our own standards in default of a knowledge of theirs, we necessarily condemn, disparage and belittle. One thing that civilization certainly has not done is to make us intelligent enough to understand that the contrary of a virtue is not necessarily a vice. Because, as a rule, we have but one wife and several mistresses each it is not certain that polygamy is everywhere--nor, for that matter, anywhere--either wrong or inexpedient. Because the brutality of the civilized slave owners and dealers created a conquering sentiment against slavery it is not intelligent to assume that slavery is a maleficent thing amongst Oriental peoples (for example) where the slave is not oppressed. Some of these same Orientals whom we are pleased to term half-civilized have no regard for truth. "Takest thou me for a Christian dog," said one of them, "that I should be the slave of my word?" So far as I can perceive, the "Christian dog" is no more the slave of his word than the True Believer, and I think the savage--allowing for the fact that his inveracity has dominion over fewer things--as great a liar as either of them. For my part, I do not know what, in all circumstances, is right or wrong; but I know that, if right, it is at least stupid, to judge an uncivilized people by the standards of morality and intelligence set up by civilized ones. Life in civilized countries is so complex that men there have more ways to be good than savages have, and more to be bad; more to be happy, and more to be miserable. And in each way to be good or bad, their generally superior knowledge--their knowledge of more things--enables them to commit greater excesses than the savage can. The civilized philanthropist wreaks upon his fellows a ranker philanthropy, the civilized rascal a sturdier rascality. And--splendid triumph of enlightenment!--the two characters are, in civilization, frequently combined in one person.

I know of no savage custom or habit of thought which has not its mate in civilized countries. For every mischievous or absurd practice of the natural man I can name you one of ours that is essentially the same. And nearly every custom of our barbarian ancestors in historic times persists in some form today. We make ourselves look formidable in battle--for that matter, we fight. Our women paint their faces. We feel it obligatory to dress more or less alike, inventing the most ingenious reasons for doing so and actually despising and persecuting those who do not care to conform. Almost within the memory of living persons bearded men were stoned in the streets; and a clergyman in New York who wore his beard as Christ wore his, was put into jail and variously persecuted till he died.

Civilization does not, I think, make the race any better. It makes men know more: and if knowledge makes them happy it is useful and desirable. The one purpose of every sane human being is to be happy. No one can have any other motive than that. There is no such thing as unselfishness. We perform the most "generous" and "self-sacrificing" acts because we should be unhappy if we did not. We move on lines of least reluctance. Whatever tends to increase the beggarly sum of human happiness is worth having; nothing else has any value.

The cant of civilization fatigues. Civilization, is a fine and beautiful structure. It is as picturesque as a Gothic cathedral, but it is built upon the bones and cemented with the blood of those whose part in all its pomp is that and nothing more. It cannot be reared in the ungenerous tropics, for there the people will not contribute their blood and bones. The proposition that the average American workingman or European peasant is "better off" than the South Sea islander, lolling under a palm and drunk with over-eating, will not bear a moment's examination. It is we scholars and gentlemen that are better off.

It is admitted that the South Sea islander in a state of nature is overmuch addicted to the practice of eating human flesh; but concerning that I submit: first, that he likes it; second, that those who supply it are mostly dead. It is upon his enemies that he feeds, and these he would kill anyhow, as we do ours. In civilized, enlightened and Christian countries, where cannibalism has not yet established itself, wars are as frequent and destructive as among the maneaters. The untitled savage knows at least why he goes killing, whereas our private soldier is commonly in black ignorance of the apparent cause of quarrel--of the actual cause, always. Their shares in the fruits of victory are about equal, for the chief takes all the dead, the general all the glory.

From: http://www.online-literature.com/bierce/a-cynic/1/

Prelinger Library located in San Francisco, California, US | Atlas Obscura | Curious and Wondrous Travel Destinations

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160-year-old poetry book covered in human skin of murderer George Cudmore | Mail Online

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The Die-Off On James Island

Excerpt from the book The Hidden Dimension by Edward T. Hall, Chapter II: Distance Regulation In Animals

About fourteen miles west of the town of Cambridge, Maryland, and less than a mile out in Chesapeake Bay lies James Island, approximately half a square mile (280 acres) of uninhamited land.

In 1916 four or five Sika deer (Cervus nippon) were released on the island. Breeding freely, the herd built up steadily until it numbered between 280 and 300, a density of about one deer per acre.

At this point, reached in 1955, it was apparent that something would have to give before too long.

In 1955, Christian began his research by shooting five deer for detailed histological studies of the adrenal glands, thymus, spleen, thyroid, gonads, kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, and other tissues.

The dder were weighed, the contents of their stomachs recorded, and age, sex, and general condition, as well as the presence or abscence of deposits of fat under the skin, in the abdomen, and between the muscles, were noted.

Once these records were made, the observers settled down to wait.

In 1956 and 1957 no change occurred. But in the first three months of 1958, over half of the deer died, and 161 carcasses were recovered.

The following year more deer died and another drop took place. The population stabilized at around eighty. Twelve deer were collected for histological study between March 1958 and March 1960.

What was responsible for the sudden death of one hundred ninety deer in a two-year period?

It wasn't starvation, because the food supply was adequate. In fact, all of the deer collected were in excellent condition , with shining coats, well-developed muscles, and fat deposits between the muscles.

Carcasses collected between 1959 and 1960 resembled those taken in 1956 and 1957 in every outward respect but one. The deer taken after the population collapse and stabilization were markedly larger in body size than those taken just before and during the die-off.

The 1960 bucks averaged 34 per cent heavier than the 1958 bucks. Does taken in 1960 were 28 per cent heavier than the 1955-57 does.

The weight of the adrenal glands of the Sika deer remained constant from 1955 to 1958, during the period of maximum density and die-off.The weight decreased 46 per cent between 1958 and 1960.

In immature deer, who formed a large proportion of the casualties, adrenal weight dropped 81 per cent after the die-off.

There were also important changes in the cell structure of the adrenals that pointed to great stress, even in the survivors.

While two cases of hepatitiswere discovered , it was thought that these were a result of decreased resistance to stress due to overactive adrenals. In interpreting Christian's data, it is important to clarify the significance of the adrenal glands.

The adrenals play an important part in the regulation of growth, reproduction, and the level of the body's defenses. The size and weight of these important glands is not fixed but responds to stress.

When animals are too frequently stressed, the adrenals, in order to meet the emergency, become overactive and enlarged. The enlarged adrenals of characteristic cell structure showing stress were therefore highly significant.

An added factor which undoubtedly contributed to stress was the fact that freezing weather in February of 1958 prevented the deer from swimming to the maninland at night, as was their custom, a journey which afforded at least temporary respite from crowding.

The major die-off followed this freeze.

Lack of relief from confinement, combined with cold, which is also known to cause stress, may have been the last straw.

Summing up at a symposium on crowding, stress, and natural selection in 1961, Christian stated:

"Mortality evidently resulted from shock following severe metabolic disturbance, probably as a result of prolonged adrenocortical hyperactivity, judging from the histological material. There was no evidence of infection, starvation, or other obvious cause to explain the mass mortality."

Excerpt from The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin

For my part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper, or from that old baboon, who descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs – as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions.

The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, 2nd ed., John Murray, London, 1874, pp. 946