Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1908-08-27
Animal Psychology.


chology has plant on a farm in the
nsighborhood of Paris. The exact 10.
cation, the New York Suns Cores
pOudent Gays, is kept secret, to avoid
hindrsuce to the work by the crowds
Of merely curious visitors. The prop
erty includes meadows and barn-ysrds,
wood of considerable size, and large
pond stocked with fish. There are
spacious buildings, including modern
stables, riding school, stalls for iso-
lating animals under special obssrva-
ton, an aquarium aud laboratory.
On the roof of the main building is q
dove cote.
How far the desire to study the
habits Of living creatures under nat
ursl conditions may be carried is IL
lustrated 10 fact that complete div
ing apparatus has been provided in
which observers decend to ths bottom
of the pond. There they remain for
hours, until the FISH become aocustom-
ed to their presence, and follow their
natural impulses in playing aud feed
ing. The student is thus enabled to
note their habits at first hand.
The other extreme Of observation is
the construction of sheltered plat
forms in the branches Of trees, where
students cit through the night armed
with an electric Asshhght to watch
the doings of owls, bats and noctur.
nal insects. one of the conclusions
reached by the students of the insti-
tute is that some animals possess q
special sense by which they can de-
tect the presence Of water even though
they can not see il. The experiments
were undertaken at the suggestion Of
David Allen, a resident Of Australia
and a corresponding member, who
wrote to the institute of bis expert
ences with sheep and cattle while be-
ing driven across the country. In
the place where water was wholly un-
expected, be says, "the leading AMI.
mails would suddenly lift their heads
and draw long bresths. Then they
would sband on the beaten tracks and
start running through the brush. y
Sometimes they would run a mile and
a half or two miles, and could not be
stopped by their drivers, their course
invariably lseding to pond or spring
hitherto unknown.
The experiments we're made on
water-rAt. First Its eyes were blind.
ed by d bAndage, and then 1t was
placed in turntsble, whit b WAS whirl-
ed round until all sense OF direction
must have been obLiterated. Upon
being released, without a moments
hesitation it started directly for the
pond. several hundred yardp distant.
Frogs and toads were taken TO a
distance of three or four miles from
water and turned loose. IL seemed
to take them only few seconds TO
locate the water. One old blind toad
showed the instinct in the same de-
gree as the others.
The nature Of the source Of this is
not yet clearly discernsd. The OBJ
servers have named it the sense Of hu-
midity. They believe it consists in q
perception Of the direction in which
the atmosphere contains most moist
ure. An effort will be made to dis
cover whether any men possess it.
Among the subject Of investigation
is the sight Of birds and the homing
instinct Of the carrier pigeon. Many
Of the members Of the institute are
Inclined to conHder this a pheDoms-
non Of far sight. They have been
taxing by triangulation the height to
which the birds soar, and from that
6guring out the radius Of vision they
attain. A bird which reaches g
height of eight hundred yards can
gee objects more than sixty miles. dis
tant, and that they are kesn-sighted
enough to recognize them cannot be
doubted. At three miles a vulturs
can decry the carcass Of a kid hung