Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-01-18
IN TIE INTEREST o. SCIENCE,

LIN Ike ENGS1 W. OClEAO41s
Guinea Pigs, Rabbits and Mice KEEP
ut Harvard for n Peculiar
Propose.
In the basement OF one of the build.
lnes of Harvard university there is rrcbs
ably e. highly scientific a collection q
rabbits, guinea pigs and mice as ever
saw the light Of Gay. Net that they are
scier &c from choice. No, indeed; fol
MAJ i are tile wislful glanccs they cast
daily toward tee grass and trees of the
outer world. And when the sunlight :
slarts down through the narrow base
ment windows they have q way CT cue.
cling up within the range CT It's rays thai
is anything but scientific. They are net
scientific from choice; they have simply
had scientific honors thrust uEon them
say the New York Tribune.
Until they came to be part and pared
of Prof. f. L. Marks collection, these lit
tic creatures were just plain everyday
rabbits, guinea pigs and mice, just eat
ing and living and feeling probably more
or less thankful because CT the fact that
hey were alive. Now. it is different
The curl of tieir hair, the color of tEeif
eyes, may mean much in the future q
the human race. Without means Ct
knowing it themselves these little cni.
mails are working ont the laws Ci
heredlty for man. Just what they favs
proved, just how much they are exEect-
ed to prove, Prof. Mark, who is director
Of the Harvard geological laboratory. u
not yet prepared to say. But he inti-
mates strongly that the time is not far
of when the little creatures will have
accomplished results which will interest
and e~nlighten, if not astonish, the
scientific world. 1t is in the hope of full
filling this belief that Prof. Mark is ex-
perimenting with his little collection
Given the best of food and every pcesi.
BILE attention an animal could desire, II
would be, to say the least, bare ingrati.
tude should the little creatures fail tc
prove what is expected of them.
Each animal is kept in the pink Of
condition. The cages, which are ar.
arranged in tiers. are large and com.
modious. light and airy. The whole
basement is perfectly ventilated, and nt
more resembles the usual places in which
such animals are kept than q pigsty does
a parlor. A careful record of each ami.
NAL in the collection is Kept. From the
end of his nose to the tip of his tail mol
a fact about any of the animals in bis
collection escapes the vigilant eye Of the
professor. The color and curl of the ami.
voaItc haf,. fha collar IF hiQ cVQG ara
carefully noted, and any little deform'
ity or popularity is sought for. All this
and much else is set forth on q specially
devised chart. With q rubber stamp q
normal pelt is outlined in the record
This shows the normal animal as he
would look If cut open and laid out, like
an open book, with the back up. Or
this chart it is possible to indicate clear
~ any little peculiarly of the animal
under consideration. With this chart
carefully filed away for future refer
ence the rabbit, the mouse or the guinea
pig, as the case may be, may do his best
at growing. No matter to what degree
of perfection he may attain he may be
confronted at any moment with the rec.
ord of the past. Grow as he will, science
has q firm hold upon him; he canno es.
cape Even death does not terminals
his service to mankind. He is as valu.
able lead as alive, for then that minute
description of himself made long before
applies not only to his offspring, but tc
his offspring's offspring. If he had q
crooked toe and that toe does not APP
pear in any of his offspring, but does APP
pear in their offspring, it means some
thing. Just what that and other kindred
peculiarities mean Prof. Mark is not
prepared to say.
There is a striking similarity, to say
the least, between these pecuiiarities
which manifest themselves in the rab.
bits, mice and guinea pigs of Prof
Marks collection, and those which CROP
out in the human race from generation
to generation. If the professor car &c.
termine just what 1t is that is RESPONSE
BILE for these changes in the little ami
mails Gagged up in that Harvard univer-
slty basement, has he solved the mys-
terry surrounding the workings soi
hcredity in man? Should he be success.
full in his effort to discover the cause
of these changes, get at the root of the
matter, and possibly find some effective
means of preventing insanity or some
other terrible affection being handed
down from one generation to another
the world will owe to the professor 8
debt of gratitude. and those little rab-
bits, guinea pigs and mice of his will not
have lived in vain.