The morning news., 1894-11-25
TELEPATHY IN INSECTS.
Some Remarkable Instances of highly
Developed Senses.
From the WashingtOn Star

Il AOiiA lllC w dSllltBl BlOn star.
Can it be that bugs are endowed with
wonderful sixth sense? Prof. C. V. Riley
thinks he has discovered satisfactory evil
dence of telepathy among insects-that is
to say, sixth sense, by which they are
are able to communicate ideas from one
to another at great distances. The power
as illustrated in the case about to be men
toned, evidently depends not upon sight
or smell or hearing The fact that man
IS able to transmit sound by telegraph
almost instantaneously around the globe
may suggest something of this subtle
power, even though it furnishes no ex-
planation thereof
Once upon a time Prof Riley had two
ailanthus trees in his front yard They
suggested to him the idea of obtaining
from Japan some eggs of the ailanthus
silSworm. He got a few and Matched
them, rearing the larvae and watching
anXtously for the appearance of the first
moths from the cocOOns. He put one of
the moths in a little wicker cage and hung
1t up out of doors on one of the ailanthns
trees, This was a.female moth. On the
same evening he took male moth to a
cemetery mile and d half away and let
him loose. having previously tied "A silk
thread around the base of his abdomen
to secure subsequent identification.
Prof. Riley's purpose in this perform
anCe was TO find out if the young male
and the female moth would come together
for the purpose of mating, they being in
all probability the only insects of their
species within a distance of hundreds
of miles, excepting only the others pos
sessed by Pref. Riley himself This power
of locating each other had previously
been remarked in these insects. In this
case sure enough the male was found
with the captive female the next morning
The latter had been able to attract the
fpT from Il
half.
Concerning the ordinary senses of in
sects comparatively little is known. Most
of them ordinarily see we'll the eyes of
many species being far more elaborate
than those of human beings The eyes of
common house flies and dragon flies are
believed to be better fitted than the human
eye for observing objects in motion.
though those creatures are short-sighted
1t may be reasonably be supposed that in
sects possess taste, Judging from the dis
elimination which they exercise in the
choice of their food That they have smell
is matter of comuon observation. and
has been experimentally proved by Sir
John Lubbock and others.
Most insects seem to be deaf to the
sounds which are heard by human be-
ings. At the same time there is no ques-
ton that they produce sounds and hear
sounds that are entirely beyond our own
range of auditory PERCEPTION. Sir
John Lubbock has said that We can no
more form an idea of these sounds than
we should have been able to conceive 70
notion Of red or green If the human race
had been blind The air is doubtless often
vocal with the sounds made by insects of
so high pitch as to be entirely out of
range Of mans power TO hear
Certain senses in insects appear 60 be
beyond comprehension. The neuters
among the ants known as 'termites" are
blind. and can have no sense OF light in
their hurrowirgs; yet they win reduce "a
beam Of wood or an elaborate piece OF fur
niture 20 "a mere shell without once gnaw
ing through To the surface. An analogy. is
found among mammals. "a bat ia "a
lighted room, though blinded as 10 sight.
viii ily in AN directions with great swift
ness and with infallble certainty OF
avoiding Coucussion or contact with any
object u seems to be able 10 feel at "a dis