The Red Cloud chief., 1889-01-18
I s AND INSECTS.
Do They Po~sess Sense Which Hamsn Re
fnSA Have Not.

DO They Possess Sense Whteh Human he.
ing Have Not.
With regard TO the hearing and the
sight OF insects and the crust. cea moth
ing is settled, writes Sir John Lubbock.
These creatures possess in many cases
curious contrivances which, while OBJ
viOusly sense organs OF some kind, can
not be assigned their functions with
any certainty. Thus some naturalis:s
regard AZ auditory apparatus that
which others believe to be organs Of
touch or taste, or even sight. The
ways OF nature in these obscure corners
of creation, moreover, are $ o fantastic
that it is difficult TO know which 10
expect. or by what standard to form
judgments. There ere some queer
~crustacca. for instance. which improve
their hearing by putting grains OF
sand in their ears. L. that mere in
which possess two kinds Of eyes. the
compound eye and the ocelius, which
T. suspected OF being a sort OF I'M
finished or aborted organ by ON
naturalists, while others think the
compound eye is for the day AID the
o~ccilus for the night. Experiment. by
producing spurious and contradictory
results. has only confused the ques-
ton still more. There are the strange
insects which carry their ears in their
tails, OF all places in the world: though
these are really not so marvellous AS
the bombadicr beetle. who mounts two
apparen; guns at his stern, AID, when
attacked. fires them. producing a loud
report, 4; little cloud OF white yapor.
and an emission OF some secretion that
sn.clls and burns like nitric acid.
II We descend into the depths OF the
ocean We find other wonders, fishes
which are equipped with electric lampe
IN their heads. and can thus see their
way and their prey III the absymal
darkness of the great depths: other
fishes which angle with tentcics tipped
with miniature ligh,s: yet Other crea-
lures which carry lamps behind instead
of in front; fishes that hear through
holes ia their sides: creatures which
see with the ends Of their attenna;
marvcls OF many kinds. in short
such "a the cunning story iellcrs
of the Orient never could have imag-
ined. To get at the actual truth about
all these weird. uncanny things is we'll
nigh impossible because OF the diff
Guilty Of a~,certaining how much or how
little they can see and hear. and what
Use they make Of all their complicated
apparatus, the several parts OF which
are the despair Of the naturalist every
where, and tempt him 10 audaciOus
and ill-founded guc>ses. Sir John Lub-
book. to his credit le it said. steadily
resists all such temptations. and when
he doe snot understand athing valiantly
says 81. But he does not hold him
self under any obligation TO restrain
the exercise o! the scientific magma
ton. and the drift of experiment is to-
ward the suggestions of yer sur
prislng possibilities. all tending 10
strengthen the >urInisc that there are
mur. senses in nature than man pos
ses>es. Thus he says: We find in
animals complex organs Of sense. richly
supplied with nerves.. but the functions
OF which We are "a yet ~powerless TO
explain. There may he fifty other
senses AS different from ours n sound
is from sight. and wen within the
boundaries OF our " senses there
may be endless sounds which " e can
not hear. and colors as different IL red
from green of which We have no on
ception. These and a Thousand other
questions remain. for solution. The
familiar world which surrounds W.
may be Il totally different place Ia
other animals. To them il may Ice full
cf music which we can not hear. ot
color which We can not see, of >ensa-
tons which We can not conceive. -
Ca.cayU V-ib9ac.