The times., 1901-06-16
ENDOWED With MEMORIES
The Remarkable Claim Made for
Fishes by Scientist.
Result of Interesting Investigations
Concerning the Finuy Tribe - In
stnnccS which Establish the Truth
of the Assertions Of Mr.. EGinGer.


Among the monographs recently pub
! Iishod by the Smithsonian Institution is
one entitled Have Fishes Memory b.
l. Ediagor Mr.. E5inger concludes that
they have and gives a number of in
! stances to justify his conclusions. Fishes
are what Artomus Ward would call
"amoosin" creatures. and anything ap-
pertaining to the finny tribe cannot fail
to be Of more than passing interest, espe-
cially at this time of the year when a
desire for a more intimate acquaintance
with them is inspired by the weather and
the opening of the fishing season.
TIP to the present time" says Mr.. Ed
niger. the science of psychology. couiin-
ing itself in the main to observations
| made By tn, investigator upon himself or
other human beings, has attached little
| weight to psychic phenomena in the lower
vertebrates Whenever it happened that
the latter were considered. the methods
| of observing md reasoning were pervert-
| ed to an incredible degree. Moreover the
| old and ever renewed attempt to lay down
! a sharp line Of division between reason
! and instinct has retarded rather than
advanced the development of a truly sci
entifc knowledge of animal psychology.
Finally. a third hindering element is su-
peradded: many psychologists did not
know how to observe animals, and, again,
most observers of animals were far re
moved from the problems of science.
so it would come about that though a
| bit of animal psychology has been devel-
oped with apparent completeness, it
proves unavailable when the security Of
its foundations are tested. and on the
other hand, though Il large number of OBJ
servations have been made on animals,
they are not objective. inasmuch as the
observers were under the influence of the
very psychologists whose science IS un-
trustworthy. Experimental physiology of
the nervous system has reached certain
degree of perfection. in the anatomy of
animals too. considerable progress has
been made-great enough, certainly to
Justify the attempt TO define the capacity
of the apparatus already known and To
determine the additional functions that
become possible with eEch step of brain
differentiation. \ great task, partially ca
pable of solution even i'm the present state
Of science. offers itself to those who. hay
! ing mastered all the scientific details. ap-
proach the observation of animals with
unbiased minds.
THE BRAIN OF ANIMALS
Fortunately. observations on man and
other mammals for anatomic and physio-
logic purposes have at least taught us
that there is fixed point Of departure
that definite questions may be addressed
TO the object under observation. In the
first place II is known that certain pOr-
tions OF the brain are missing in certain
animals and appear in certain others,
usually of a higher order, and that their
presence implies enlarged capacity in
certain directions In fact, science is in
a position 10 prove that given sets Of
fibreS are fitted TO serve as the physical
bases OF certain psychic activities. For
instance, in all animals set of ilbres,
the optical nerve, issuing from the com
plicated apparatus OF the eye Whlch re
ceiVCS impressions from the outer WOiIG'
enters the brain. Uniformly ii ends IL a
part of the brain alike IL all
Experience teaches that whether the
/ eye. or the optical nerve, or the portion
I Of the brain in which it ends is destroyed,
the power OF sight goes with II. To TINS
primary visual apparatus, as It may be
/ called. a second IS Joined in man and the
I other mammals. Heavy sets Of hbres run
/ from d great lobe OF the cerehTum 70
/ the terminal spots Of the nerves OF vision.
/ The ends of this strand of fbres become
closely inferW oven with the ends OF the
nerves that receive the impression Of
! light second visual mechanism thus
connects Itself with the first. It's sig
nitiCance has been discovered. il, by way
/ of experiment. the continuity OF the sec
ond set of fibreS is broken, the animals so
treated lose, not the ability to see but in
a measure the ability 10 recognize what
( they see. 4 dog IN this condition, even
/ if ne suffers hunger, fails 10 snatch meat
held before his eyes though he obviously
/ sees it, and he does snatch il If he can
/ recognize il with his nose, or If one OF his
eyes has been left intact
Not only in the case Of vision, but IN
| the case OF d number Of other function.
| the science Of the last few decades has
I developed the fact that at least two
central apparatus eXist-a primary ap-
paratus Indispensable for a given func-
| ton, and secondary apparatus Joined
| to the former Concerning the secondary
apparatus we know its Importance in the
| execution of acquired movements and in
| the recognition Of objects perceived on a
previous occasion. AnatomIcally II
| originates in the CoTticai substance Of
4 the brain In man and the higher ami
rnals various parts of the cUrteX are con-
nected with one another in such mani
| fold ways that it was natural lot the
assumption to gain currency thal lIe
cOrtcX of the CCrcbTum Is the anatomical
| foundation from which proceed the most
varied perceptions associations. and CO
! ordinations that II * the seat Of the
higher psychic functions-aboye all, OF
/ the faculty Of memory.
BIRDS OF PREY.
THE theory was greatly strengthened
when experiment demonstrated that
each and every part Of the cOrtex does
not appear iu animals of all orders. The
iamphibious animals and reptiles possess
only cortical tracts. connected with the
primary terminal places Of the nerve sys-
/ TEN of smell. Only when birds are
reached 90 we happen upon the mighty
nerve path leading from the primary
termini Of the nerve of vision 10 the
cortcx The latter fact explains why the
sight of birds is psychcally far better
/ developed than that Of other animals.
/ The bird cf prey hovers hundreds Of
| metres above the surface of the earth,
vet " hen he darts down he is never mis-
! taken; h has recognized a little mouse as
| one Of his tid-bits known Of old. Birds
cannot be lured by bait OF all animals
birds alone can be frightened off perma-
! nentIy by means of appealing to the eye;
| only for them scarecrCws, made to appear
! as like human beings as possible, are set
! up in the fields
! al best we have not advanced beyond
| the initial steps in this branch of science
! but the road open To travel is becoming
| visible. OF one thing. however, We are
| wholly ignorant of the role played in
! psychic processes by the ganglia, the cen
| tres in which the nerves Of sense end. the
! primary termini. in other words. Do they
too. retain Impressions DO paths issue
/ also from them rendering previous seuSa-
| tiOns available for later actions? IS the
| function of memory confined TO he cor
! tex, or does ii appertain equally 10 the
! inferior parts of the brain2 If the latter
| is true, another question at once arises
4 What gain aCCrues 10 the psychic life
| from the activity Of the cOrteHy An aF-
! prOach to the solution Of these questions
| has been made. IL is hoped, by an enquiry
! made during the year 1897. II was impOr-
| observations at my disposal. The follow
! ing appeal was therefore sent TO a num-