The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-07-12
HAVE MEMORIES.
THE CLAIM MADE FOR FISH, INSECTS
AND OTHER CREATURES.
How Young Lady Trained Caterpillar.
Educated Oysters In France Evidence
of Cerebral Action In Carp Which APP
pears to Settle the Question.

pears to Settle the Question.
Henry de Paryile has written for
French newspaper the following article on
the memory of fish, insects and other
creatures:
Herr Edinger, the German anatomist,
recently discovered that fishes have mem
cries. Now it is believed that insects and
lnollusks are equally gifted. One Of my
lady readers, "A teacher of drawing in the
Paris schools, put the following question
To me: How can any one imagine any
animal to exist without a memoryp And,
dwelling upon her query, she afllrms that
caterpillars have memories. She at one
time possessed a big brown caterpillar with
magnificent fur. She kept him i'm "a work
box and carefully fed him with choice
leaves. Now, this caterpillar, following
the fashion Of his kind, used to roll him
self up into ball whenever he was fright
ened When the lady wanted to make his
bed and fix up his apartments, she took
him delicatcly on n leaf and brought him
| out of the box. At first the creature would
| roll himself up, but i'm a short time he be-
! came tame and remained in an out
stretched condition, knowing we'll that no
! harm was intended.
" Il was then schoolgirl in the Sacre-
| Cnur of Beauyais, said my correspondent
and with my caterpillar l gave exhibit
lions TO the sisters and the girls. When
ever she touched him. no remained per-
fectly at ease and never coiled himself, but
when any one Of the other girls touched
him he instantly rolled himself up. He
i knew his mistress well. Therefore the
creature evidently possessed a memory.
zone morning the lady opened the box
and to her establishment the caterpillar
was gone. In his place there was a little
heap of agglutinated hairs. Her pet had
become n chrysalis. The sisters and pu
pills awaited the arrival of the butterfly
with impotence, The question was,
Would the butterfly have any recollections
of its existence as caterpillar. and
would it remember its mistress9 The an
swer is easily guessed. Butterfly and cat
erpillar are two, and the butterfly had no
recollection of its kind nurse and paid no
attention to her whatever. When 1t rose
In the world 1t forgot it's old friend.
1.-THE young lady afterward raised sew
eral caterpillars, but none Of them evinced
such intelligence as the first. At all events,
the statement proves that it Is quite posi-
BILE that caterpillars have memories.
"Here is another example relative to
]
as follows: while at Courseulles sur Mer
watched with curiosity the oyster floats
Noticing n workman at low tide shoveling
out great quantity of oysters upon de-
clivity, so as to keep them completely dry,
l asked him what was the utility OF the
operation. He replied that the oysters
were to be sent to Paris, but that before
sending them IL was necessary to educate
them and teach them to economiZe tho
water in their shells. If you export oys-
tiers that are accustomed to be always In
the water, they open on the road and ar
rive mt their destination dried out, dead
and spoiled. IT, on the contrary, they are
placed upon a declivity so that they will
be alternately under water and high and
dry, they will learn In a few days that, II
they open their shells when they are dry,
they will be left without water and doubt
less suffer considerable Inconvenience.
Consequently they wisely retain the
LIQUID, and when they learn that trick
they are sufficiently advanced to pass their
examinations in Paris Therefore the oys-
ter though inferior In intelligence to a
fish, is susceptible of training. 1t must
be admitted that it has certain memory,
since it recollects its sufferings from the
imprudent opening of it's shell when it is
not in the water and knows enough to
keep itself shut when In basket.
"But here is another example In regard
to fishes. 1t Is given by M. Pierre Megnin
of the Eleveur. 1T is not necessary to
travel very far he says, ito get the EVIL
dence Of memory among fishes. One need
| only to 90 to Fontainebleau and look at
the historic carp in the ponds of the castle.
l often went there some years ago when
was camped In the forest with my regi'
ment during the firing exercises. There Is
one spot behind the castle where people
amuse themselves by throwing bread and
fruit to the carp. The little pieces OF bread
are eagerly devoured and fought for by
the fish. But If an apple Is thrown in, the
fish, recognizing 1t, pass 1t by disdainfuily
They know by experience that the thing
Is beyond the power Of their jaws.
"'There Is one trick which Is often
played upon them, and that Is to throw tc
them an entire loaf and as hard a loaf as
can be procured. The carp poke their noses
at It and retire, keeping 1t in view. They
, surround 1t, remaining at little distance
from it. One big old fellow approaches II
= from time to time to ascertain the progress
of the soaking and softening, and IN
a about 90 minutes, when the explorer dis
I covers that the required degree OF softness
I has been reached, he notlnes MS colnpah
ions of the fact by q wag of his tail or by
|, whatever means Of communication the
carp possess, and instantly they charge
$ upon the Loaf tear 1t to pieces and nell
themselves. In few seconds nothing II
a left of 1t.
. "'Now, this shows that experience has
r taught the carp that the bread, no matter
1 how hard 1t may be at first, is bound II
time to become soft enough to eat, ant
y they wait patiently for the expiration O
. the necessary time. In this there is no.
only evidence of memory, but also th'
. proof of complex intellectual operation
IN. Pierre Megnin may be right De
10 cause it is very difficult to explain In an!
@ other way than by cerebral action ina
> series of facts, in some degree reasoned OUT
exhibiting the carp waiting for the soften
ing of the hard bread every time IL u
n thrown to them"
r. A Weather Stone.
writer tells Of curious stone that j
IN be found in Finland. IL Is natura
,.-a..,o.o, apd actuolly forptells prODaDl