Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1909-01-14
THE NEW ERA.
Animal Physiology.

The new institute OF Zoologicai
Psychology has plant on farm IN
the nelghborhood of P,ris The eI'
act location, the New York Suns Cor
respondent, says, is kept secret, to
AVOID nindrapce to the work by the
crowds Of merely curious visitors
The property includes meadows and
barn yards, a wood Of considerable
lize, and large pond stocked with
fish. There are are spacious build
lugs, including modern stables, a rid
my school, stalls for isolatlng animals
under special observation, an aqu.r-
lum and a laboratory. Ou the root
Of the main building ls dove cote.
How far the desire to study the
habits of living creatures under nat
ural conditions may be Carried ID IL
luslrated IN fact that diving appa-
ralus has deem provided III which oo'
servers descend 10 the bottom OF the
pond. Tuere tney remain Tor hours,
uutil the hsn become accustomed to
their presence, and following their
natural Impulses oil playing aud iced
ius. rne stud-ut ls tnus enabled to
note tcelr HABITS at fr5. hand.
Tue other extreme of observation ls
the construction OF Sheltered platforms
in the braneues of trees, wnere stu
dents slt through the night, armed
with an electric hash-hght 10 watch
he do.uss owls, oats and nocturnal IN
sects. Ou- VI tue conclusions reach
cd oy the students Of the Institute Is
that some auin4ls possess special
sense by which they can detect the
presence of water even though they
Can not see il. The experiments were
undertaken at suggestion Of David
Allen, d resident OF Australia and
corresponding member, wno wrote to
the institute of his experiences with
sheep and cattle while being
dIiven across the country. Ia the
place where water was wholly unex-
pected, he says, 1.-The leading animals
would suddenly lift their heads and
draw long breaths. Tnen they
would abandon the beaten tracks and
start running through the brush.
Sometimes they would run mile and
d halt or two miles, and could not be
stopped by their drivers. their course
invariably leading TO pond or sprins
hitherto unknown.
Tue experiment was made on
xster-rst. First Its eyes were blind
cd by bandage, and then it Was
placed in .urntable, which Was
whlrled round until all ssnss of di-
recuou must have been obliterated.
Upon being released, without mo-
nent hesitation 1t started directly
ior the pond. several hundred yards
distant.
Frogs and toads were taken to
distance OF three or four mIles from
Water and turned loose 1t seemed to
take them only few seconds to locate
water. Que old blind toad seemed to
show the instinct In the same degree
as the others.
The nature of the source Of this is
not yet clearly discerned. The OBJ
servers have named 1t the sense of hu.
midity. They believe it consists In
perception of the direction in which
the atmosphere contains most mois.
uie. An effort will be made to dis
cover whether any men possess it.
Among the subjects Of investigation is
the sight of birds and the homing in-
s,iucl of the carrier peigeon. Many
Of the members Of the institute are In
clined to consider this ss a phenome-
non Of far sight. They have been tax.
ing by transgulstion the height to
which the birds soar, and from that
figuring out the radius Of vision they
attain, A bird which reaches a
height OF eight hundred yards Can see
objects more than sixty miles. distant
and they are keen sighted enough to
recognise them cannot be doubted.
Al three miles vulture can decry
he Carcass Of kid hung on pole.
Life 1000 Years Ago.