New-York tribune., 1908-01-26


important definite question 70 answer is: How
may the Of the stream of germ plasm
that has come down TO Us from remote ages be
controlled in its onward course" says Dr. C
B. Davenport director Of the laboratory.
The mysteries OF instinct" are the subject Of
inquiry in the course of another series Of inves-
LEGATIONS lately begun by the institution. The
ability of the newly hatched turtle TO di-
rectly toward the without losing time CROP
ing in a landward direction has been one of the
phenomena of instinct long puzzle to science
At the Institutions new laboratory of marine
biology at Tortugas. Florida, this problem has
lately been attacked by Davenport Hooker Of
the laboratory staff. After experimenting with
loggerlead turtles he finds that they born
with an instinct go downhin and in the
direction of the greatest light Either leads
the little animals the az the shores on
which they hatched always slope down
toward the ocean and the reflected light from
the water is always greater than that from the
land. Neither the sound Of the surf nor the
smell Of the sea guides them This has been
proved by eliminating the direct rays Of the
sun. after which the little turtles, If upon
level surface. move in all directions with equal
readiness. although but twenty feet from the
water and where both the smell and sound Of
the sea perceptible.
a study of the mysteries OF protective COL
orIng" in insects has been begun at the Tortu-
gas station by Professor Charles r. Stockard.
He has started with that SIngainly creature the
walking stick" which nature has not only col
cred but formed to deceive its enemies When
hidden in foliage 1t looks like a slender tWlg
with branches. Professor Stockard says that it
feeds and breeds at night. and by day remains
nnotionless in a protective attitude among the
stems Of its food pIart. from which 1t is diff
4E,a r.Cr nd TEa
insect vary considerably in color, but the latter
generally fails to select branches matching its
own shade When disturbed It usually drops
r.odiIv TO a branch below to the ground.
where it feigns death. In new series OF eX-
periments with these uncanny looking insects
DR. Stockard blackens their eyes and removes
their feeIers, after which he subjects them to
various noises and colored lights TO test the
modification Of their behavior He viii an
nolnce his results later. He has also SCI upon
wire legs dummy figures made up OF parts OF
the hodfes Of dead walking sticks and has
studied III. behavior of live specimens toward
them
The blind fishes Of the caves Of Cuba are being
studied under a grant by the institution 10
Professor c. H. Eigenmann, Of the INDIANA oHi-
versfty who finds that some OF the young "a
these strange species are born with eyes tha'
are well formed and which can De iiio'eH' O"'
which rapidly degenerate
A nutrition laboratory" TO be ouIt py me
institution in Villa street Boston, VIII be Oh
great practical value to the public at large Here
.be exact effects of various foods upon man Wlli
be carefully studied under the direction OF L. q.
Benedict The laboratory viii be equipped "lth
alright chambers in which human subjects VIII
be confined for various periods An artlhclai
climate will be supplied them and their 1oCd
will be handed into them through AIR valves.
Delicate apparatus viii measure the carpohlc
acid gas water vapor and heat given OH by
subjects put on special diets and required l"
do certain mental or muscular work The
amount of oxygen which each consumes VIII
also be measured. All food air and water sup
piled 10 a subject viii be measured ana ahalyzeu'
in order 10 learn just how his body utlilzes each
ounce Of it With such apparatus Mr. Benedict
under a grant from the institution, has lately
studied several fasting confined IN the
chamber without food for periods OF from TWO
10 seven days.
So numerous and so vast are the new enter
prises OF this new mother hen of science, the
Carnegie Institution, that volume wouIo pe
required merely to outline them Under the
direction Of it's president, Professor Robert .
Woodward the institution is also opening up
important fields in history. economics. sociology,
geology paieontology mineralogy, anthropoi-
ogy, archaeology, photography. chemistry en-
gineerlng, literature. philology, mathematics
meteorology. physics, physiology. psychology
and zoology