The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-09-04
I0qBSS By TIE WAY.
A Ranlbler's. Observations On.
I lhings in General.
=. FROM BABY TO PUGILIST.
hrb0Teal 0uadrpmana and the Instincts Of
Infants-Ihe. Cholera scare-Happy
Married Couples.
written for TsE MORNING. CALL.


written for TIE MORNING CALL.
Among the interesting papers of a sensa-
tional but not necessarily scatteroraln
type read and debated at the meeting
= Of the British Association this year
WAS one. on the instinct of babies. The
author Of the paper, taking stages OF deveI-
opmenf in embryology for his cue, set
about. ascertaining what baby can do
instinetiyely. He experimental upon hun
ireds of them in the hands of willing
..ma4nmas. They were from a day to several
weeks old This enthusiast seems to have
been. Cnhand whenever baby was born in
his neighboyhoOd. lie apOlogiZad to the
anthr0uological section Of the "B. a" for
not.havng baby with him to demonstrate
the pith and point of his discourse. BE even
= explained the cause of his failure with
humor that must have penetrated the hard
est Scotch head. lie only reached Elm
buruh on SUNDAY. and he declared that il
would have been an impossible task TO
make contract with 4 baby on the Sab
bath" 10 appear on Monday before a scien-
fife association. Any lVks seems TO tickle
The Scotch about their sabbath. There are
still a few descendants OF that very cody
parish where the people, pouring out Of
church, almost murdered man who was
passing hy because lie was whIStnng, form
-of:-Snuday Dissertation peculiarly sinful
north of the Tweed.
=. The professor took up his line Of Inquiry
from thoughts about the anthrop0id apes.
oTGuadIumaua. Nest OF the suecies are ar
boreal They collect their food in the tree
taps. and p the thick forests Of the tropics
. pass. from branch TO branch and tree to tree
with acelerity that no animal which walks
the gr0Uni could attain 10 with equal ease.
- Some Cf these quadTuTana build roofs or
umbrellas high up the tTee-trUnkS and there
pass tie night sheltered from tie rain and
protected from snakes. Their shelters show
=. less engineering ski than the abOdes OF the
-lake-dNeIlers, and are, perhaps, not more
remarkable than the homes OF lie beaver.
but il ) clear this domestic foresight shows
some measure Of cerebral activity In re-
Spouse % he stimulus Of natures environ
meut. Darwin has limited that man may
have lad arOOTeal aHceStOTs-nOt nPceS-
sariIy the present tribe. He remarks that
lit Is well known that lie hair On our arms
tends 10 converge from above and below 10
point st the elbow" He illustrates the
same tel deuey In the arbGreal QuaGrumana
They are aecus tomedto st with their hands
. over the head when rain IS falling. and 1t
is supp Sed that the direction the Lair
-. iaEes III striking out from the arms or body
tends to shed the rain. So Darwin re-
. marks: "lf the above explanation IS correct,
as seems probable. the direction of the hair
ON our WI arms offers a curious record of
our former state, for no one suDpoSes that
il is &C any use in throwing of the rain,
d uOr.-in our present erect condition. is il
properly directed Ior TINS purpose"
The question for decision vas, are there
.apy aDlls among human babies similar 10
: t.e'tabiIs Of arboreal young. It is a matter
: 0f observation quite uueontradicted that as
:. soon rs an anthTopoid ape IS born it hangs
- aJsUGd. the mothers neck with It's arms and
-ulsC.Uses It's feet n clutChinE or support
ing leverage. The mothers own arms and
feet agefree for tree climbing and swinging
from -bOu-G 10 bCugh. Inc infant are
= takes Ir.uT shment al natures f0Unt. and
thus tile safety OF mother and infant are
We. provided fOT. The helpleSsnesS of
= .Lumau baby IS proveTbial. but can 1t 0
MQleluan ~ instinct partake OF food? 1t
seems that lt can.
This D3rwnian student observed that the
human baby has a very strong arm for its
ten TO fourteen pounds Of body. He ex-
perimented upon the gripping power Of the
hands and the sustaining power Of the arm
muscles, and the results were certainly re-
m8rkab.e. lie found that babies 4 day old,
.eljbging by the hands 10 his finger or any
support that the hands could clutch, were
able TO support their own weight for a
:mluute CT more Other babies, two or three
weeks Old could support their own weight
two and sometimes over three minutes. 1t
mattered nothing whether the babies were
awake or asleep. In sleep the fingers closed
aIluDd any object quite aut OmaticaIly by re-
deE action. One lady mentioned the fact
that babies VIII often cling TO their own
thumbs. II also appears that the feet of IN
fauts are curiOusly crossed with cTease5
and have a feXlblliIy about the toes quite
= @uauecess aTy for walking. Tie cTeases dis
appear as the child grows, but the whole
-. t00t~is significantly used for clutching at OBJ
j-ctS. When supports are placed under the
feet OF infants the toes and the sole execute
= gripping motions quite as remarkable as the
hands. Here Is new region Of study for
-. those who engage in the science OF peda-
gogies. either for the sake Of education or
natural History.
:: That the foot may be converted into a
hand IS well-demonstrated by the case Of
the armless artist who earns good living
il. Antwerp and supports 4 wife and family
in comfortable state by his -canYaSes. He
p is now 80 years Of age at least He was
bonn. without arms, and be has made his
J. feet do the duty OF hands with most marvel
GUS UcceSS. 1t is sight that makes the
eyes bulge cut Of their sockets to see this
artist at work in the public galleries OF Ant
-. Werp. lie chiefly deyOtes himself 10 co py-
ing, but lie is good at a portrait or a con-
= Tenti0nal theme as well. There he is
poised en- a high stool in front of the old
master he is Fepr0ducing-a Murill0. Rem
bFant, I Rubeus, or Teniers. With one
= f0Othe holds up his pgleste; with the other
foot he Yields the brush. aud just as we'll as
- any Oue could do the work by hand. He
mixes his tints, dips into oils or VaTnishes,
and dashes in the paint boldly or 18th
touch as delicate aud minute as point of
light II G Is by no means q freak" for a
p. circus or a subject Of commiseratiOn. He
=, copies just as we'll as any other cOpyist
- His feet in fact, look 10 much like hands
in actonthat he may have been passed by
at tunes as perfectly normal genius. 1t is
only when. he lays down his palette and
brushes and feels around in his coat tails
: for a pocket handkerchief WhereWith to
blow his nose, that the startled observer is
aptto Shiver from a cool trickle Of perspira-
ton running down his back bone. And 10
see him get off his stool and shuttle on a
pair of shoes and walk away is at least I'M
= canny. BUTT shows what mans adapta-
billy was and is.
The Americans holiday in Europe this
year,is far from merry. His movements are
circumscribed, and wherever he goes there
i: IS distrust in his breast, The cholera has
=: gwen him a perfect bath Of alarm. For
once lie could be perfectly happy in lis own
country provided the cholera is kept out.
But: on this point there is no assurance.
p, Cargoes OF rags have been landed from in
1ected points and also hundreds OF fmmi-
:: grants and so there may be much trouble in
.. Tie autumn and winter and in the spring Of
next year. The American abroad will be
Lso-97SAS