Evening star., 1905-08-27

tlonal Museum wrong side out and shaken
1t aud no one there can give rne an expla-
nation"
The cats eyes don't shine in the dark at
all, said the pseudo-scientist. They never
shine except where there is a certain
amount of light and that is reflected from
the retina because the pupil OF the cats eye
expands In the dark and takes In all the
light there is in the neighborhood and
makes II visible. even though ii Is appa-
rcntlY dark TO "a human he ng'
That may be" said the night police
reporter who had Just dropped in from tho
first precinct, but / can give you few
pointers on the cats eye question myself
| don't claim that | have ever taken a cat
into Photographic dark room and seen the
shine in It's eyes. But had one experience
out west that impressed me with the belief
that a cats eyes viii shine In the dark even
II IL - as back as the inside OF a COW.
II was this way. There were two of us
camping out down IN southern Wyoming
Ii was late before We stopped for the night
The sun had set and there was no moon
ihere was JuSt enough starlight for us TO
see an opening into a cave in a cliff on the
side of the hill where We were We fig
ured that the cave would be a good place
10 camp II II was not already occupied and
We started in To see. Now. the entrance to
Inc cave was so small that only one of
us could go I'm at n time The other stand
ing behind. shut of the rest OF The light
IL there was any worth mentioning 10 shut
on i was In front and the nrst thing
saw IN the back OF the cave was q pair of
eyes about the color of maIachite and big
enough TO PLAY golf with. Ii was "A noun
tam cat, all right. and IL was dark enough
inside or that cave tn have developed extra
rapid plates without Jogging them
1t was a whole lot too dark TO see tbn
cat. but you could see his eyes all the same
and We took a couple OF pot-shots at them
Then We went in and got out the cat. which
was a good-sized one. Now YOU needn't
teI4 me that those eyes were shining by re-
nected light, because there wasn't any
light to reflect
''All the same" persisted tho nse,do,,,
enlist. you can get the authority OF any
oculist or biologist In Washington for A.
that cats and dogs eyes won't shine unless
there Is some light FOR them to reflect"
linen please tell me what is the funda-
mental difference between a CATS eye and
monkeys eye" said the political man.
who was on late because Congress was
not In session 3nd there was nothing TO
do. III you viii read up a little. which
none OF you fellows ever do, you will find
that Professor Phipson records the case of
night monkeys eyes which he examined
IN absolute darkness. They had luminosity
tAat unquestionably came from the inside
and the monkey could see I'm the dark ,us,
as wei as We car in the daylight II ~ n
lact that nearly all animals can see in the
dafh and most of them have eyes thai ara
iumlnousat night. Is IT possible that there
Is an actual luminosity inside the eva th.t
not?" '''''' ''"-
That's where your theory OF instinct
comes In. said the District building man.
animals don't see in the dark any more
than you do They can find their Wv
around, but 1t Is just matter of instinct"
No", you are wrong again." said the
poliIcai man. Il know perfectly well that
IL Is actual sight when a horse finds his
way around in the dark, and, by the way.
you VIII find that a horses eyes shine nj
nleht Just the same as a cats I have
let morse was riding find his way home
with me In the dark when it was too black
for me TO see his head, and he was a
white horse at that. lie took n road that
was filled with loose stones down a steep
hlllSlde where | had never gone hefore
and he did not stumble any more than a
horse naturally would on that sort of a
tran in broad daylight. But If any OF Won
nave ever had anything to do with horses
IN log you Will remember that they
cannot find their way then any better than
a man"
That's right" said the night police man.
II was raised on a farm down on the ca ST.
erl Shore, where We have a good many fogs
IN the spring and fall. The cattle that
would come in all right on the blackest
sort of night would get lost in daylight I'm
a white fog. / have ridden on roads thero
during a fog. and a horse that was at
home enough on the road at night would go
off butting into the fences and banging
against trees in a fog just the same as q
man
We'll. supposing for the sake of the ar
ggment. that a cats eyes or any other AMI
mails eyes do shine In the dark said the
Police Court man. do they shine all the
time or is 1t voluntary act when they
light up?'
Better have the scientist ask some OF
his National Museum friends said the
political man. But far = my expert
ence goes, 1t seems to be voluntary act
You get out at the zoo at night, and while IL
is not often dark enough there to settle
whether or not animals eyes shine in pitch
darkness. you will find that nearly ali OF
the wild animals have luminous eyes, but
they don't shine all the time. They lghs
up and go out like candles. and IL you take
scary fellows like the wolves and the cats,
you will find that if they hear noise OF
get excited, their eyes blaze up. If they
are left in repose their eyes are mostly
dull. Sometimes you can tell that their eyes
are open. but at other times II is too dark
TO see whether their eyes are open or
shut"
Well. there is no question about the
voluntary part of 1t In the case OF light
ming bug" said the night police reporter.
They light up and go out just like
searchlight"
That's so. too" agreed the political man.
But no one seems to know whether there
is any relation between the luminosity OF
certain OF the bugs and lower forms OF life
and the luminosity of animals eyes. This
much is certain. The lightning bug flashes
its light by opening the air tubes that lead
into the shining section OF Its abdomen.
And the light persists for a time, even
after the insect Is killed.
You can put the light section into car
bonIc acid gas which Will put out an ordi-
nary flame. and il will continue 10 burn
Chat is to say will remain bright for two
hours and a half AT the same time IL its
luminous section Is put into oxygen II viii
stay bright three times long. One OF
these gases supports life and supports
combustion. but the other gas kills both
You can figure out for yourselves whether
there is any real combustion about the
lightning bugs light"
How about phosphorusr' Inquired one OF
the listeners.
Take your choice again. said the polit-
ical man. The luminous part of the bug
has been analyzed more than once. and
some of the investigators found phosphates