THE PHYSIOLOGY OF ALCOHOL. 809 



tie trick specialties began to crop out during the first summer. 

 Tipsy, always the lithest and quickest, became expert in jumping 

 and catching on the fly. Bum, all of his own accord, took to sit- 

 ting up and " begging." Little Topsy would sit up and " speak." 

 Nig did not develop any specialty, and never really discovered his 

 mission in life until he was taught to " fetch." As to the learning 

 itself. Bum and Tipsy were about as quick and much more docile 

 than Topsy and Nig. 



It was stated above that during the second month after admin- 

 istration of alcohol spontaneous activity of both Tipsy and Bum 

 became noticeably impaired. This gradually and steadily in- 

 creased until, last spring, it seemed to me from daily observation 

 that the alcoholics were not much more than half as active as the 

 normals. How to secure an objective expression of this fact pre- 

 sented some difficulties at first. To put them in large recording 

 cages, such as we use in the laboratory to study the daily activity 

 of rats and mice, would clearly be an imposition on a dog's good 

 nature, and would possibly suppress his activity in proportion to 

 his intelligence. To watch four dogs during the twenty-four 

 hours would require four observers, and their presence would be 

 a disturbing factor. 



Pedometers were thought of, but none could be found suitably 

 constructed for use with the dogs. Finally, Waterbury watches 

 were obtained and, by removing the hair springs, weighting the 

 balance wheels unequally, and by proper adjustment of buffing 

 pins so that the balance wheel could move just far enough to re- 

 lease the escapement, a watch resulted which ran only when 

 shaken. After a month of preliminary trials an adjustment was 

 attained so delicate that the watch could hardly be jarred so 

 slightly as not to release the escapement one tooth, and the two 

 could be shaken, violently or gently, and in any position for an 

 hour at a time (fastened firmly together) without showing a vari- 

 ation of more than two seconds on reading the hands.* 



The watches are now placed in stout leather pockets in spe- 

 cially constructed collars and the dogs allowed to wear them. 

 The results are graphically expressed in Fig. 17. The watches 

 were read every evening at exactly six o'clock, and the reading 

 plotted so that the angles in the lines for each dog correspond to 

 the number of minutes the dog has ticked his watch during the 

 twenty-four hours. The chart explains itself. Bum is seen to 

 develop seventy-one per cent of Nig's activity, and Tipsy only 

 fifty- seven per cent of Topsy 's. 



The watches, of course, give us only the total quantity of 



* For valuable assistance in accomplishing this adjustment I wish to express my thanks 

 to Mr. Albert P. Willis, Fellow in Physics, Clark University. 

 VOL. L. 61 



