3 8o 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



how," he continues, " as we now know that 

 monkeys have the habit of turning their 

 hinder ends toward other monkeys, it ceases 

 to be at all surprising that it should have 

 been this part of their bodies that has been 

 more or less decorated. The fact that it is 

 only the monkeys thus characterized which, 

 as far as at present known, act in this man- 

 ner as a greeting toward other monkeys, 

 renders it doubtful whether the habit was 

 first acquired from some independent cause, 

 and that afterward the parts in question 

 were colored as a sexual ornament; or 

 whether the coloring and habit of turning 

 round were first acquired through variation 

 and sexual selection, and that afterward the 

 habit was retained as a sign of pleasure or 

 as a greeting, through the principle of in- 

 herited association." 



The Transmission of Habit. A corre- 

 spondent of Xalure, resident in New Zea- 

 land, communicates to that journal several 

 instances of the transmission of habits to 

 offspring in animals. One instance is that 

 of a mare which would wander away from 

 the " mob " of horses to which she belonged 

 always seeking one particular creek. 

 When released from work she would make 

 off to her favorite feeding-ground by her- 

 self. One of her progeny some years after 

 showed a similar liking for solitude. Again, 

 a valuable mare was an incorrigible kicker; 

 she transmitted her special vice to her off- 

 spring. Peculiarity in the form of the hoof 

 has been transmitted to generation after 

 generation. The same writer states that a 

 particular strain of Dorking fowls which he 

 has had in his possession for thirty years 

 always show a restless desire for rambling, 

 and this, too, under the difficulty of meeting 

 with much persecution when straying be- 

 yond their range. 



Effjrts to stop tie Loeust-Plagnc. In 

 Octobi-r a convention of the Governors of 

 several Western States aiid Territories was 

 held at Omaha, to devise means of with- 

 standing the plague of locusts. Besides 

 the Governors, there were present at the 

 meeting a number of prominent farmers and 

 scientific men. A memorial to Congress 

 was adopted, setting forth the serious in- 

 jury done to agriculture by the locust, and 



asking for the appointment of a commission 

 to investigate the " history and haunts of 

 this insect ; also all possible means of its 

 extermination, and remedial agencies which 

 may be used against it." Prof. Riley, of 

 St. Louis, delivered an address, in which he 

 briefly narrated the habits and history of 

 the Rocky Mountain locust. He considered 

 that there were two main questions before 

 the conference : 1. How best to deal with 

 the young insects that threaten to hatch out 

 over a vast extent of the country next spring ; 

 and, 2. The investigation of the insect in its 

 native home, with a view of preventing its 

 migrations into the country to the south- 

 east. Prof. C. D. Wilber, of Nebraska, 

 gave an account of the various means adopt- 

 ed in different parts of the West to counter- 

 act this plague. Governor Pillsbury, of 

 Minnesota, gave a history of locust-ravages 

 in various countries. Governor Pennington, 

 of Dakota, offered a series of resolutions 

 "respectfully but earnestly urging that all 

 our people in the States and Territories 

 afflicted by the locust-plague, of all denomi- 

 nations and sects, offer up special prayers 

 in their respective churches for deliverance 

 from this great enemy." 



Insect Fertilization of Plants. For a 



year Mr. Thomas Meehan has been making 

 observations and experiments to determine 

 whether insects are of material aid to plants 

 in fertilization. His results, which are pub- 

 lished in the Perm Monthly, appear to favor 

 a decision of the question in the negative. 

 That insects sometimes fertilize and cross- 

 fertilize flowers, he admits, but he holds that 

 these cases are less frequent than they are 

 supposed to be, and that, when they do oc- 

 cur, they have no bearing on the general 

 welfare of the race. The chief arguments 

 for the necessity of insect fertilization, says 

 Mr. Meehan, are drawn from structure and 

 not from facts of observation. Thus it is 

 stated that Iris, Campanula, dandelion, ox- 

 eye daisy, garden pea, Lobelia, clover, 

 and many other plants, are so arranged 

 that they cannot fertilize themselves with- 

 out insect aid. But the author has inclosed 

 flowers of all of these in fine gauze bags, 

 and found that they produced seeds as well 

 as other flowers that were exposed. And yet 

 Iris Virginica and Campanula are common 



