REASON OR INSTINCT.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 November 1923, Page 4

REASON OR INSTINCT.

-M VST EH lOl.’S SIXTH SENSE. (By A. J. heckle.) Brotes-.ur • Kicliet, tllte wefl-kiiowu French psychologist, declares that man possesses a sixth sense, which lie names “cryptiiesthesia,” or hidden sensitiveness. He says there are thousands of authenticated eases. Jle attributes this strange sense toaeiial vibrations, with which we are at yet only partially acquainted. These vibrations go far to explain telepathic and other psychic manifestations. Many animals are credited with the possession of a sixth sense. Tile so-called scent ol a dog does not seem to depend simply on tile sense ef >mell. for seme savage tribes, as the aborigines of Australia and the North American Indian, have an equal facility for tracking the lootsteps of animals, and they certainly do not employ their olfactory organs ii: the process. As man develops his reason, so lie seems to lose many oi those, instinctive faculties which he once possessed in common with the lower animals. And it is a moot point whotlii*r ro*ison superior instinct. In a hive of perhaps .’lO-100 bees each bee can recognise every other one bcJonging to the same hive, and instantly ejects nil intruder. It was on: e supposed that the bees id’ each hive wore di-t iiiguished by a different sliieli. Hill il it i- true, as has been stated, that eggs have been taken from one hive, hatched out in another, and then returned to the original hive, when they were recognised as brothers, then we must abandon that hypothesis. Another supposition was that the bees had some bind of countersign, corresponding to a password, by which they were able to recognise members of the same live, hut I,ord Avebury took some bees, stupefied them, (reduced them, in fact, to a state of helpless drunkenness) s<> that they were quite unable to give or answer any countersign, yet on putting them into their own hive they were at once recognised as members. The methods by which bees recognise one another are still a mystery. BEKS’ ANTENNAE. One tiling we do know; there are certain complicated organs attached to the antennae of bees, the exact functions of which have never been discovered. It is lint possible that they limy form 1 lit* seat of that mysterious sixth sense. That the antennae of bees, are Very important organs we know. A bee or ant. deprived of its antennae, wanders about in a bewildered and helpless manner. It seems to have lest all interest ill life. Are the antennae of hers and other insects capable of detective vibrations which ait: imperceptible to u-There ate good reasons lor believing such to he lhe ease. We know that the nutcnip'e of a witele-- plant can delect' the electric vihra linns -el up in the atmospheie. and every day we are learning more about thc.-c mysterious v ilual ions. Manx inserts, such as seme beetles, have a'llonnar much longer than their bodies. What useful fund ion do they pi'- foi i-i f All i lie so-i•;lik'd “orinmelit;i| ’ appurtenaores of animals and plants perform some useful function. Nature creates no ltsele-s uninmeiif “. The gaudy pinning" of male birds serves to at trad the females; the brilliant colours oi minx il"wvrs serve to nlt rad the inserts w hirh arc nere-sary tor their fertilisation and so oil. Beetles may hr noticed sometimes to stand motionless. while they wave their long

ait ten nae in a strange mamiei. as though signalling. Are ibex signalling to distant friends by a kind id v unless telegraphy‘r l.et us take a dill simpler animal--the common earthworm. Tin’s humble annelid is credited with i nly one sense -that of touch. Nevertheless, the Worm- are nocturnal in their habits, ami i! a strong light i- thrown on one when emerging from its burrows if ill iautlx retires; lienee it i- sensitive to light • in other words, it must have sight ol some kind. If a footstep approaches its burrow, again it withdraws. Ii mav lie said that this i, not due to any sense of hearing, Imt because the worm can detect the vibrations iu tiie air or earth rau-cd by the footsteps. Bm what i- ottr sens,. Ol healing exccai a nerve capable of detecting vibrations- That a woim also lias somethin"; currosp.Hiding to the -disc of siiiell may he proved by placing Mime kind of food <u which it is fotid close to ii-. burrow, when i; turns at once in that direelinu. WIHKI.E.-K; IN ANIMAiaE i.e-tly. il has the setl-e oi ta.-to ni-n, as every animal must lime, else howcon Id it -elm t it- I'aid: - St ranger si ill. n is believed that worms haw some mr.de oi I'cniniiiuicat ing with distant kinsmen, and the same strange poxv-.a' Inis been attributed to the snail by Mi.si. it not all, ntiTnai. -cent to Imre some way of eftintnuuicatiiig with their kinsmen at a distance. Aiming all laud vert fhra les -lu-h eom'iiuiima lion is oral, hut snails and worms a.ie voiceless. It has keen suppo-ed. and ihe

hyp,nil".i- docs not seem impossible,! that both these humble animals have Mime met hod of tapping the electric vibration-, oi i lie at iiiospheiv, in -omctiling the same way as is done by a wireless apparatus. The habits of the earthworm seem to confirm this theory.! Like most, "wireless" animals, the worm is nocturnal in its life, and night is the hast time for lapping the electric J vibrations. As the worm emerges from its hole, il may he observed to lift its horlv civil, at least the forward pm-j tion, while the rear portion remains! buried in the earth. Here wo set* the action of "wireless." The raised head, plays the part ol an antennae, the rear! part, buried in the moi-i soil. I'unelions like ihe earthed wire of an; aerial. The nerves of all animals arc ■ perfect < onduetors of eleclrieity. and the nervous system of tin* worm ex-I (ends like a wire, in a. straight line from the antennae to the earth contact. ; In snails, the so-called horns would seem to net as antennae. The “eyes" are placed at the tips () |' these horns, which is thi> worst position if they are really intended for sight, as the snail when travelling carries the horns raised

erect in the air. But the sensitive points at the end of the horns may act as tappers of the aerial currents or vibration*. The hodv of the snail is extremely sensitive. This may he shown by scattering a little salt on the mucous surface, when it at once dissolves into foam. It would he hard indeed on humble animals like the worm or snail if they had not, like other members of the brute creation, some method of communicating with their fellows, especially in view of the proverbial slowness of their motions. But there is always a compensating balance in Nature, and a dullness in one sense is generally accompanied by a corresponding keenness in another. Ibis is true even in isolatd eases. We have ~ read of the young girl in America who. though quite blind, was able to tell different colours by their smell, and to read ordinary (not raised) large type by passing her fingers over ft.