Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-21

Washington, Oct. 18.-Did you ever
bee Or an ant? Putting yourself in an
insects place is not just a matter
of picturing your normal self reduced
a million or so times and walking about
seeing crumbs as loaves of bread and
Jumps in the carpet Ia mountains.
You must build up a new world, one
that is more fantastic than II. g.
Wells idea of Mars. And wen then
q human being can have only . dim
conception of what life would be il
he had six legs and depended on his
sense of smell more than his eyes to
tell him what the world is like.
II you fancy yourself a worker in
the bee world, for example, you must
neighbors by their distinctive odor.
Family resemblance in the social or
der of bees is a matter OF a hive and
family odor rather than of peculiar
appearance.
|. When you returned home after q
long journey n search of nectar the
sentinel at the door would know you
by the odor of the hive which you car
ried. IL BY some mishap you became
lost or injured and did not return to
the hive for several days the hive odor
would gradually become faint and when
you arrived the guardian of the door
would sound the warning that a strang-
err was trying to break in. The result
would be a tragic ending of your use
full career.
AS a honey bee you would have an
intense passion for sweet things, and
il a scientist got you in his power and
put you to work in his experime nts
you would show him that a bee cannot
be fooled by bitter salts in candy. You
would be a connoisseur to the extent
Of recognising the difference between
candy containing strychnine and candy
containing quinine when the scientist
himself could not detect any difference
IN taste.
These random glimpses of life in ar
insects world are gathered from the
experiments of DR.. n. e. McIndoo OF
the bureau of entomology. DR.. Nc
Indoo recently has published a pape,
N the senses of insects in which he
explains his latest observations anC
conclusions, especially those relating to
the olfactory sense.
Insects Haye a New Science
"In regard to odors,' he says, "in.
sects have already evolved a new
oeASLSC am ~ NoPobiO Va NldcoiAy1he
and analysing odors, many of which
are unknown to us. Furthermore, they
have evolved special organs for pro
ducing doors and highly developed ones
for receiving them. In fact, the oil.
factory sense of insects, particularly
in the honeybee is so highly developed
that we do not have any more concep'
ton of it than does the honeybee q.
II could think as we do of our won,
derfully developed sense of sight, which
is able to distinguish accurately th,
size, form, and color of objects"
Science for centuries has puzzled
over mysteries of animal life and won
dered how some of the tiny creatures
are unerringly guided to their mates
to food, and to their homes. 1t wa.
proved long ago that sight plays +,
minor part in insect life. Some scient
lists attribute the remarkable feats o.
insects to instinct and others believ,
that strange occult powers guilds them
Still others entomologists are persuad
ed that one of the five senses, highl,
developed, must rule insect activitie.
as sight rules human life.
Or. McIndoo believes that q keeI
~olfactory sense accounts for much o
the extraordinary behavior of insects