New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-20
THE SENSES OF ANIMALS.
SIR JOHN LUBBOCK'S RECORD OF
WONDERS.

ON THE SENSES INSTINCTS AND INTELLIGENCE
OF ANIMALS. with Special Refcrence 70 lnsects
BY SIR JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart. win over one
hundred Illustrations 12mo. PIP 2sS ID. Ap-
peton Co.
Sir John Lubbock always writes increasingly
whether on anthropology or natural history and
his new volume is in many respects even more
attractive than its predecessors, though 1t can
not be said that it determines any very important
question There must always be deep interest
in the study of those animals ana insect types
which, while occupying the same planet ana
the same air and water with us are neverthe-
less so far away from human comprehension
With the advance Of science, and especially with
the Improvement of mechanical means OF invesu-
CATION, there have been many discoveries in this
fascinating realm of research; but the more we
ascertain about animals, and insects particularly,
the more probable does it become that they often
possess senses which has not that they receive
impressions both from light and sound to which
man is wholly insensible, and that their pro-
visions for coming in contact with external nat
ure are apt to be such as fairly stagger the hui
man understanding.
Sir John. Lubbock in this book has much to
say Of the queer ways in which insects and fishes
feel, and hear, and see. He begins by stating
that there are animals which have eyes on
their backs, ears in their legs, and sing through
their sidesn This however, is but the tuning
of the orchestra. There are insects which have
what closely resembles true voices. Some, as
Sir John says Il" sing through their sides" quite
literally; others possess kind OF violin attach-
ment playing with their legs upon their wing
cases or abdomens or some other part ntted up
for the purpose. Some Of the winged insects
mals music by the rapid and graduated vibra-
ton Of their wings, and what is more they
evidently express differing moods and desires in
this way Sir John is inclined to think that
many creatures which man has labelled dumb
hitherto NAV have utterance which is beyond
human perception We know that sound vibra-
lions carried beyond certain number become
inaudible by the human ear There are many
ears which have never heard the shrlll note OF
the cricket 1t is. therefore, quite possible that
insect voices may exist which convey no sound
TO our tympanums. In the same way Sir John
strongly inchnes to the belief that some insects
are affected usually by the ultraviolet light
rays which are invisible to the human eye. He
has made some interesting experiments to deter
mine this, and the results certainly appear to
strengthen his theory, if they do not demonstrate
its correctness conclusively.
With regard to the hearing and the
sight Of insects and the crustacea, however,
nothing is settled. These creatures possess in
obviously sense-organs of some kind, cannot be
assigned their functions with any certainty. Thus
some naturalists regard as auditory apparatus that
which others believe be organs of touch TASTE
or even sight. The ways of nature in these OBJ
scure corners Of creation, moreover, are so fan
tasic that it is difficult to know which to expect,
by what standard to form judgments. There are
some queer crustaceae, for instance, which improve
their hearing by putting grains Of sand in their
ears. Is that mere instinct? Then there are
tother creatures which possess bwo kinds of eyes,
THE compound eye and the ocelus which is
'pected of being a sort of unfinished or aborted
organ by some naturalists, while others think
the compound eye is for the day and the ocellus
for the night Experiment. by producing spurl-
Gus and contradictory results, has only confused
the question still more. There are the strange in
sects which carry their in their tails, of all
places in the world: though these really not so
marvellous as the bombardier beetle, who mounts
two apparent guns at his stern, and when at
tackled fires them, producing loud report lit
tie cloud of white vapor and an emission of some
secretion that smells and burns like nitric acid.
II we descend into the depths of the ocean
find other wonders fishes which are equipped
with electric lamps in their heads, and can thus
see their way and their prey in the abysmal dark
ness of the great depths; other fishes which angle
with tentaclcs tipped with miniature lights; yet
other creatures which carry lamps behind instead
of in front; fishes that hear through holes in their
sides; creatures which see with the ends Of their
antennae; marvels of many kinds, in short such
as the cunning story-tellers of the Orient never
could have imagined. To get at the actual truth
about all these weird, uncanny things is well-nigh
impossible because of the difficulty Of ascertain
ing how much how little they and hear.
and vlofu fhav alyn nf oil fhQr nil tod
apparatus. the several parts of which are the
despair of the naturalist everywhere, and tempt
him to audacious and ill-founded guesses. Sir
John Lubbock, to his credit be it said steadily
resists all such temptations, and when he does not
understand q thing valiantly says so. But he
does not hold himself under any obligation to re-
strain the exercise of the scientific imagination,
and the drift of experiment is toward the sug
gestion of several surprising possibilities, all tend
ing to strengthen the surmise that there are more
senses in nature than man possesses Thus he
says: We find in animals complex organs of
sense, richly supplied with nerves but the func-
tion of which we yet powerless to explain.
There may be fifty other senses as different from
ours sound is from sight and even within the
boundaries of our own senses there may be end
less sounds which cannot hear, and colors as
different as red from green, Of which we have no
conception. These and thousand other ques-
tons remain for solution The familiar world
which surrounds may Re totally different
place to other animals. To them it may be full
of music which we cannot hear, of color which we
cannot see, Of sensations which we cannot con-
ceive."
The concluding chapters record experiments
with bees and wasps, to ascertain whether these
insects possess sense of direction. The results
are not conclusive, but the weight Of evidence so
far Is certainly negative. Sir John has also a
chapter relating his experiments with his dog
"van," with cards upon which the names of diff
ferent things were printed. The general bearing
of the facts in this case is not favorable to the