The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-22
CLOSE STUDY IN
 ANIMAL HABITS New Institute Has Plant on
 Farm Near Paris INTERESTING PSYCHOLOGY Diving Bells In Which To Watch Fish. Roosts In Trees To Observe Bats.
 Color Sense In Animals.
 Some Far-siehted.
INTERESTING PSYCHOLOGY

From the New York Sun.
 The Institute of Geological Psychology is the newest phase of the Parisian search for knowledge. Its founder is F. Hachet- souplet and the location is farm in the neighborhood of Paris; the exact place is kept secret so as to avoid hindrance to the work by crowds of merely curious visitors.
 The property includes meadows and barnyards a wood of considerable size and large pond well stocked with fish. There are spacious buildings, including modern stables, a riding school stalls for isolatlng animals under special observa- tion, an aquarium, and laboratory On the roof of the main building there is a dovecote.
 How far the desire to study the habits of living creatures under natural condi tions may be carried is illustrated in the fact that complete diving apparatus has been provided in which observers descend to the bottom of the pond. There they re- main for hours until the fishes become accustomed to their presence and follow their natural impulses in playing and feeding The student is thus able to note their habits at first hand.
 The other extreme of observation s the construction of sheltered platforms in the branches of the trees, where students sit through the night, armed with an electric fiashlight, to watch the doings of owls, bats and nocturnal in- sects.
 Possesses Special Sense.
 One of the conclusions reached by the students of the institute is that o,,if e,n1a by which they can detect the water, even though they cannot see 1t. The experi- ments were undertaken at the suggestion of David Allen, a resident of Australia and a corresponding member, who wrote to the institute telling of his experi- ences with sheep and cattle when being driven across country. In place where the presence of water was wholly unex- pected, he says, "the leading animals would suddenly lift their heads and draw long breaths. Then they would sud- denly abandon the beaten track and start running through the brush" Sometimes they would run from mile and a half to two miles, and could not be stopped by any exertion of the drivers, their course invariably leading to a pond or spring hitherto unknown.
 The expirments were tried on a water rat First it's eyes were blinded with a bandage and then it was placed on a turn table, which was whirled around until all sense of direction must have been obliterated. Then 1t was re- leased and without moments hesi- taton it started on an air line for the pond. several hundred yards distant Frogs and toads were taken to a dls- tance of three or four miles from wa ter and turned loose. It only seemed to take them few seconds to place the water. One old blind toad showed the instinct-in the same degree as the others. The nature or source of this power is not yet clearly discerned The observers have named it the sense of humidity. They believe it consists in perception of the side on which the atmosphere contains most moisture. An effort will be made to discover whether any men possess It.
 Phenomenon of Far Sight.
 Among the subjects of investigation is the sight of birds and the llomlng instinct of the carrier pigeon. Many of the mem bers of the institute are inclnied to con- sider this a phenomenon Of far sight They have been taking the height to which the birds by trangulation and from that figuring out the radius of vision they attain. A bird which reaches height of S00 yards can see objects more than GO miles distant and that they are keen sighted enough to recog- nize them cannot be doubted. At three miles vulture can descry the carcass of kid hung on pole and a swallow can spot gnat at distance of 400 yards
 Much of the effort of the institute is given to an exact appraisal of the mental faculties of animals beginning with the senses and ending with their power of abstraction and possession of conscious ness or recognition of the ego" It is believed that fish and animals of the frog species or batrachians only dstin- guish three colors, green and yellow, and red Their acuteness of vision, however Is estimated at 10 times that of human beings. Animals. however, have wide range of color discrimination, and even detect difference of shades. A cat which is fed several days in succession out of colored bowl plainly acquires a dis tinct Knowledge of the color If the bowl is placed among number of others of different colors, but exactly the same size and shape, it will go directly to the one to which 1t Is accustomed It will even pick it's accustomed color among shades closely approaching it. Mental Power of Animals. Many lc tr