Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-23
other while it's general appearance is that
Of a ball of frizzled ostrich feathers.
Adding Toes to Guinea Pigs.

Adding Toes to Guinea Pigs.
A race of four-toed guinea pigs has SIM
ilarly been produced by w. E. Castle, one
of the biologists of the station. Normal
guinea pigs have only three toes on each
hind foot. What correspond to our big
and "little" toes are lacking. Mr.. Castle
has succeeded in producing a race with the
little toe added. One of his normal mothers
gave birth to three young guinea pigs, the
largest of which surprised the biologist by
displaying the extra little toe With this
single freak as a parent Mr.. Castle then
produced the now well-estaeiished lour..oed d
race In other experiments with 1890
guinea pigs and several hundred rabbits he
has produced other new individual sorts,
characterized by peculiar qualities of hair
and coat markings. His original parent
stock vary from long-haired. rough albinos
from Peru-resembling living tassels of
white silk-to short-haired backish-red in
dividuals of the English variety. The Off
spring of these and other crosses show Gu
rious characteristics. Some look like balls
of long hair 'cowlicked'' all over; others
like balls of delicate feathers, and still
| others appear to have the bodies or guinea
pigs but the tails and topnots of cocks.
Studies of the inheritance of the color pat
terms of asparagus beetles ere also being
made These patterns vary from light spots
on a dark ground to dark spots on a light
ground. Mr. F. E. Lutz. in charge of this
work is testing the possibility Of changing
these patterns at will by altering the tenn
perature of the cages in which the beetles
are bred. He is trying also to create
strain which will produce three generations
a year instead of two. Experiments are
being made also with webworms, crickets,
squash beetles and lady beetles MI RIOS
we'll H. johnson, working with lady beetles,
has made the incidental discovery that these
insects when disturbed exude from some
Joints of their legs fluid tasting like aloes,
which is dstasteful to birds. The secretion
of this iavoring extract is evidently the
lady beetles natural means of protection.
The problem of supplying all of these in
sects with food has been troublesome one.
Plant lice, for example, are even more es-
sential to the diet of the lady beetle than are
baked beans to the Bostonian or hot bread
to the Virginian. Hence plant louise
hatchery has had to be set up in the sta
ton for the special convenience of this
hungry species
May Lead to Superman.
This business of inventing to order beetles
with certain spots, guinea pigs with four
toes, goats with wattles and deaf cats with
extra toes appears upon superficial glance
to be useless and silly as compared with the
increase Of the milk quality of Jersey cows
or of the milk glands of the sheep. The en-
terprise of increasing the annual generations
of asparagus bugs will not at first blush
appear particularly practical, especially
from the point of view of the farmer. But
it is from the smallest creatures being thus
experimental with at the station that the
quickest results in this work of learning the
laws of heredity can be obtained. Il they
confined their experiments to cattle, for ex-
ample these enterprising biologists would
have to pass their labors on to their grand
children or great-grandchildren. But the
three -generation-a-year beetle, will be
a grandfather before a calf, kid
or a lamb has learned to take care of itself
Hence the invention of this apparently USE
less insect by which the process of evo-
luton can be hurried, that impatient man
may all the quicker learn the laws which
will enable him to mold the animal and
vegetable kingdoms to best suit his CONNER
cial interests. And, far more, important
still, these experiments are expected to re-
suit in teaching man how to improve his
own kind, mentally, morally and physically;
how. in fact, to eventually create the super
man.
This is because the laws of heredity gov
erning the evolution of the humblest as