New-York tribune., 1909-11-07
ANIMAL IMPULSE.
Due to Referes. Not Instinct,
Scientist Sans.

\ process akin 10 pulling rose apart IN
order TO learn all about IL ts being applied
% animals. RuthIessly the acid test Of
the laboratory IS being applied 20 tales o.
mythology. the naturalist's and thu nature
faker's theories. The laboratory naturalist
is reducing everything 10 the common level
OF retlexes and tropism.
One puts snuff In the nostril II irri-
tstes. There is a reflex action in the form
o. snseze. No one learns 20 sneeze- Tne
nerves and muscles are awaiting the reces-
sary irritation like tinder the match IL
comes The sneeze ensuss. II Is ali simply
a reaction. Thus. according 70 L. T. Brew
ster. in "McClure's Magazine" the labora-
tory naturalist pricks the deduetioas of the
field glass observer. This is his analysis
OF what has been termed animal instinct
With his precise knowledge OF the limits II
the senses OF any given animal gained
from possibly years minute observation
and experimentation with a single speci-
men. he draws a geometricaIiy accurate
picture OF the creature, a picture uncolored
b. any poetic fancies OF the imagination
A duck, the laboratory naturalist says,
does not naturally take 70 water. II not
only has no impulse 20 enter the water,
but does not recognize a sheet OF aqua
purs when II sees n. Accidentally per-
hsps. while following its mother n sets
It's feet IN the water Wet legs and the
lift Of the water on the body. however,
furnish the necessary irritation 70 the
nerves and muscles involved in swimming.
and the reaction sets in. Away swiu1s the
duck. The chick has definite instinct 70
pick az any small obiecr that catches its
eve. but would die Of thirst did IL not
chance 20 learn TO drink by peckinS az dew
the water or particles 81 the bottom OF
a tiny pool The cartoons picturIng the
astonishment OF the hen when her brood
of ducklings persists in going into the
water apparently are not even plausible.
Hens which have raised ducklings try 70
make their succeeding broods OF chicks
take 20 the water by pushing them in and
become much distressed when they find
it impossible 20 persuade their offspring 10
lump IN"
It has been shown pretty clearly that
the cat has no instructive impulse 70 kill
and eat mice, nor the mice any instructive
fear OF the cat a mouse may smell the
nose of an inexperienced cat or even perch
on its back and be quite safe so long as
il does not run away. II is the motion
of the mouse which sets the muscles OF
the cat in action. The kitten will chase
anything which is in motion, such as a
ball. spool. it's tail or a mouse. IL plays
with the mouse. only by accident discover
ing that II is good 20 eat. II IS all mat
ter OF reflex action until the kitten has
acquired the habit. Some acquire The
habit Of catching mice. while others ac-
qUiTe the habit Of taking squirrels or birds.
one of the most interesting phenomena
among fish has been the salmon's return
20 the head waters OF the stream in which
Il had it's birth in order to deposit its
eggs Where do the fish So?'' and How
do they find their way back TO the same
stream used TO be questions that were
asked about them. The laboratory ma
turalist has an answer. Fishes in moving
water tend 20 head upstream With the
ripening Of the eggs in the body comes
the instinct TO swim strongly. As the
salmon probably never gets beyond the
influence Of the current OF the river in
which II was born. IL tends TO return up
the river. The stronger the flow the great
er the reaction on the muscles of the tail.
This is supposed 20 account for it's ability
20 mount through stiff rapids
BY and BY" says Mr.. Brewster. the
FISH comes 10 the region OF quick water
where the mud bottom OF the lower river
gives place 90 sand and gravel. The eggs
being now ready. the little river environ
ment starts up the egg laying reflex This
I'm turn. cuts of the impulse TO swim
hard. and the fish. having done its err
rand. drops down stream with the cur
rents. So IL is neither memory nor in
tellisence no. Instinct. in the scientific
sense that takes the salmon back 10 its
birthplace. out one common tropism and
two reflexes. so simple that they hardly
deserve to be called instincts at ALL"
What looks like complex instinct the
laboratory naturalist has resolved to his
own satisfaction into a simple, inherited
reflex. pieced out IN the more intelligent
species by the creatures own habits and
experience. II is not knowledge. His in
vestigations tend to lower the estimate
of the intellectual level OF animals.