The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-06-24

| -AU winch nad never KNOWN or
wv gS(I! heard of creatures that
| were not. like themselves,
blind, the use of his eyes might enable
him to perform acts which must be in
comprehensive to them.
Imagine the bewildermpnt and sur
prise of these unseeing people in their
encounter with one who could describe
objects and recognize individuals with
out contact, avoid pitfalls without as.
certaining their existence by the sense
Of feeling, and even announce the pres
ence Of objects at q very considerable
distance.
Doubtless such sightless. folk. II they
were reasoning beings, would try in
various ways to account for their Wis
itor's achievement.
| In doing this, moved by the impulse
that leads us to measure the faculties
Of others by our own limitations. they
might be inclined to credit him with a
development Of hearing or Of smelling
or Of some other power exercised by
themselves in apprehending external
things. sufficiently extended to meet the
case. The simpler and, all things con-
sidered, the more probable explanation
that the performer possessed q sense
absent in themselves, might be the last
to occur, or, perhaps, prove acceptable
when suggested to them.
| In their unwillingness to accept such
an Interpretation of the facts they
would follow many Of our scientists,
who, until quite recently, have been
reluctant to admit that number Of the
lower animals possibly possess other
senses than ours. So much new and
undeniably affirmatory evidence is,
however, now being offered on this
point that there can be no longer any
substantial reason for doubling that
the five senses man imperfectly eXer-
cises are by no means all that are pos
sible to sentient creatures. One such
sense not possessed by human beings,
but to a greater or less degree almost
universally present in mammals, birds.
reptiles, fish and insects, is what per-
haps may be called the sense of locali-
cation. 1t enables its possessor, ap-
parently by its sole use, to find de-
sired spot. 1t is evidently closely con-
nected with an instructive and perfect
memory Of distance and direction. That
the homing pigeon exercises It to some
extent, though undoubtedly aided by
the landmarks 1t recognizes is indis-
putable; that the honey bee has 1t in
its fulness and perfection cannot after
the careful experiments of Albrecht
Bethe in Germany be doubted
Perhaps as striking an instance of its
use as any is that related Of the ringed
seal (Phoca faetida), which furnishes
1 the Eskimo of Greenland and of the
| Arctic archipelago with food and cloth
| Ing. The female seal, when about TO
| have young, forms for herself an igloo
or domed cavity in the snow just above
the breathing hole which she keeps
open in the ice. Here her baby is born,
and rests, sheltered from the fierce
Arctic gales by the roof Of snow over
head, on the ice near the breathing
hole. To supply herself ana the little
| creature with food, the mother seal has
to swim for miles through water black
as midnight without the faintest ray
Of light to guide her on her way; no
light can penetrate the strata, dozens
Of feet thick, Of ice and snow above.
Aided by none of the faculties we exer-
else in apprehending external things,
but by some mysterious power, OF
which we can form little or no concep.
ton, she follows swift, elusive fish in
oil their turnings, secures her prey
and returns, unerringly, to her own
particular At-luk, or breathing hole,
however distant where her young one
awaits her.
I. II. Fabre, the celebrated French
entomologist, tried several experiments
with mason bees (Chalicodoma pyre-
naica); results which are useful In con-
firming those OF Bethe on the honey
bee. and still further strengthening his
position, insomuch as the mason bee is
very different from the former, living
as 1t does but a short time in the
winged state, and not having opportu-
nifty to become acquainted with locali-
ties as distant as those to which Fa-
bre carried 1t. One Of these series of
experiments made with bees testified
very convincingly to the fact that the
sense of sight has nothing at an to do
with the recognition Of objects or of
localities by the insects in question. A
bowlder, to which a partially finished
nest Of a Chalicodoma was attached,
was. during the temporary absence OF
its builder, removed a short distance,
but in plain sight Of the place formerly
occupied by it. The bee returning,
few quickly to the spot where she had
been carrying on her unfinished dwell
ing. She then few Off, but speedily
returned, and again sought diligently
In the self-same spot for her absent
nest. This she did a number Of times,
occasionally passing in her flight within
very few inches of the object she
was in search of, without once recog-
nizing it. When the nest and the
bowlder to which 1t was attached We're
moved back again to within a very
short distance Of the locality to which
she had always returned. the bee