Evening star., 1908-01-26

thumb IS uppermost: but
some people always put the right upper
most, others the left. l hope to find out if
rhis character is inherited and, if So what
laws are followed" says Mr. +. T. Iutz
of the Carnegie Institutions la boratory OF
experimental evolution. a similar CHAR
acter he finds in the hind wing coverings
Of crickets, the right usually overlapping
the left in males, although in some OF the
latter the reverse is the case. The inner
itaHce OF this position is now being tested
by Mr.. LutZ. who. with insects as ma
teriai. IS studying the problems of hered-
ity. lie has mated 12J pairs of crckets
fer this seasons work. and on his peGi-
greed stock he has bred a new form,
having underdevcloped wings. wing cover
ings and ovipositors. or egg planters
Learning to Control Heredity.
TO learn how heredity can bc controlled
is the primary function of this new lab
oratory. toward whose support $1,000 of
the iron masters millions is being an
HualIy appropriated The most impcr-
tant definite question to answer is: HOW
may the course of the stream of germ
plasm that has come down 10 us from re-
mote ages be controlled in it's onward
course says DR.. G. Il. Davenport d.
rector OF the laboratory. Presuming that
hered'y is governed by the same laws I'm
mar and beast. DIR. Davenport is study
ing the lower animals first. because nat
urally they are more easily handled and
more amanable to discipline. lie has
started the breeding OF numbers of strains
OF different species with the intention of
controlling their onward progress by reg
ulatiug all matingS and enVironmental
conditions. For this years experiments
he has ~ OF these controlled strains in
mammals. 60 in poultry. II in cage birds.
> in crickets. some two dozens in other
insects and 900 in lowering plants. In
some of his insects he has already con-
trolled the hcredty for twenty genera
tiors, which. III experiments with man.
would require about 500 years. But he
finds that nature is In no hurry even with
the smaller animals. in the most of which
year is required for a single onward
step,
Controlled transmission of ahnormali-
ties forms an interesting part of his nov
work. Thus by rating the transmission
Of winSlessncss taiilessuess. etc, III
poultry, he learns certain laws of he
rcdi;y. The same is accomplished by rat
ing the transmission or color patterns In
beetles. the coat pattern in guinea pigs.
etc. by lnhreeding. outbreeding and
crossbreeding his different strains he aims
To learn how creatures may best be mated
20 produce, To order, new stocks.
Mysteries of Instinct.
The mysteries OF instinct" are being
inquired into in the course OF another
series OF Investigations lately commencea
by the institution. The ability of the
newly Matched turtle 10 run directly to-
ward the sea, without losing time CROP
ing IN a landward direction. has been
one OF the phenomena Of instinct long a
puzzle TO science. At the institutions
new laboratory of marine biology at
Tortugas. Florida this problem has been
lately attacked by Mr.. Davenport Hooker
OF tho laboratory STAFF After expert
men,inS with logycrhcad turtles he finds
that they are born with an instinct to
go down hill ard in the direction or the
greatest light. Either leads the little
animals 10 the sea. as the shores on
which they are hatched always slope
down toward the ocean and the re-
Arcted light from tho water Is always
greater than that from the land. Neither
the sound OF the surf nor the smell os
the sea guides them. This has been
proved by eliminating the direct rays OF
the sun. after which the little turtles. II
upon II level surface. move in all dircc-
iions with equal readiness although but
twenty feet from the water and where