Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-11-10
The Sixth sense.

IT has been suspected by students of
natural history that some Of the inferior
animals not only have the five senses
common to the human race, often active
to a degree mattainable by man, but
possess others of which we have no eN-
peTiencc. OF course it Is as impossible
for US to conceive Of these unknown
senses As for 4 man blind from his birth
TO acquire a true idea Of light, or a deaf
mute to form Il right conception Of mu-
sic.
Naturalists tell Us, for Instance, that
ravens, which feed upon nOxiOUs and
decaying substances. 'Ubtain intimatiOU
of the existence Oi such objects By
means of some faculty Ofwhich we have
little conception. Sight it cannot be,
and we know Of no fetOF escapin. from
an animal previous to pUtrescsnee, 50
subtitle as to call these scaVengCTs Of ma
ture from the extremity of one country
to that of another; for it is manifest
from the hight they preserve in their
flight, and the haste they are making.
that their departure has been from some
far distant station, having a remote and
urgent object in contemplation"
Nor can We readily comprehend by
what means snails and slugs discover
that the maturity of fruit approaches.
Before color or smell has revealed to hui
man observers that the plum is ripe,
these slow and shiny animals have
found it out, and have made their long
and gradual journey to the precise spot
-endued with what faculty for the pur-
pose of discerning their food from afIr,
we cannot conceive.
And still more wonderful is the i'll
stinct or sense by which the male Ofcer-
tain rare insects finds its female. Ny
children found large chrysalis one day
and placed il under common glass
tumbleT in their play room, hoping to
see the butterfly emerge from it. Bat
after watching frUitlessly for many days,
they almost forgot the thing, and, child
like, went in search of new specimens.
One day, however, they came running
to me, eXclaiming, "OUr butterfly has
come OHt! our butterfly has come out!
and it fills up all the tumbler ,"
Poor thing it had been born into 4
sphere too small for it, and its gay wings
were bent and cTumpled against the con-
filming glass. We took it out gently, and
placed it on a leafy spray in shady part
of our garden. 1t tried in vain to bal
ance itself or fly, and only weakly and
with an effort famed its poor wings
gently, as all newborn butterflies do. in
order to dry them in the air, and let
them grow firm and strong. But. uH-
fortunately, its wings had already dried
and stiffened in their cramped and
erumpled shape, and nevCrstraightenCd.
The insect was 4 very large and beau
tiful moth, of kind that I had never
seen before, and have seldom met with
since. Before night its destined mate
found it out from afar, and came to it in
its hidden bower; so our poor spoiled
butterfly lived her little life, laid her
eggs, and passed away, not without hay
ing accomplished all that mUther-mOths
can do, except the spending of a few
short hours in floating about on her
beautiful wings.
But what told that other moth where
to find her? He could not see her, for
she was hidden among the leaves, and
there was neither sound or OdOT To at
tract him. BY no sense of which We
have any knowledge could he have dis
covered her. He came by chance, You
think? But natUralist~ win tell you
that this is the rule and not the CXCcp-
ton; that this marvellous sense, this
second sight, by which the butterfly
finds his distant or concealed mate, II
common to the Hours al Homo fer
October.