284 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE 



INSTINCT. 



To THE EDITOR OF Science. Having read with con- 

 siderable interest the discussions under " Instinct," and 

 having noticed the different opinions expressed con- 

 cerning the eating and drinking of the chick, I thought 

 that perhaps my personal experiments in regard to the 

 matter might be of interest. 



About eight years ago I was desirous of studying the 

 chick before and after hatching, and for this purpose I 

 placed about three hundred eggs in an incubator. I 

 shall confine myself to those that were allowed to hatch. 



Those that hatched were divided into two groups, 

 an unhealthy and a healthy group. Those in the first 

 group were fed and given water until they became 

 strong enough to care for themselves. Those in the 

 second group had food and water placed so that they 

 could get them, but they were not fed nor given water, 

 nor were they taught how to secure food and water. 

 No tapping on the dish or on the floor, and no putting 

 of the bill in the food or water was practised. They 

 were left entirely to themselves. 



By watching these chicks, I noticed that they would 

 occasionally run over their food and water, and fre- 

 quently they stumbled in them. If the beak became 

 wet, up would go the head, and the water was swallowed. 

 If food adhered to the beak, some would get on the 

 tongue, and it would be swallowed. In time they 

 seemed to recognise that the food and water were 

 palatable by repeatedly stumbling in them and getting 

 them on the beak, and finally, they learned how to 

 secure them, i.e. how to pick them up. I noticed that 

 at first they did not know how to pick up, but, after 

 repeatedly trying, they learned how. The majority of 

 these chicks lived and developed. 



