554 



NATURE 



yod. 28, 1875 



pea-chick she had to sit one week longer than is requisit*; to 

 hatch an ordinary chick, but in this there is nothing very un- 

 usual, for, as Mr. Spakling observes, the same thing happens 

 with every hen that hatches out a brood of ducklings. * The 

 object with which I made this experiment, however, was that of 

 ascertaining whether the period of maternal care subsequent to 

 incubation admits, under pecuHar conditions, of being pro- 

 longed ; for a pea-chick requires such care for a very much 

 longer time than does an ordinary chick. As the separation 

 between a hen and her chickens always appears to be due to 

 the former driving away the latter when they are old enough to 

 shift for themselves, I scarcely expected the hen in this case to 

 prolong her period of maternal care, and indeed only tried the 

 experiment because I thought that if she did so the fact would 

 be the best one imaginable to show in what a high degree here- 

 ditary instinct may be modified by peculiar individual expe- 

 riences. The result was very surprising. For the enormous 

 period of eighteen months this old Brahma hen remained with 

 her ever-growing chicken, and throughout the whole of that 

 time she continued to pay it unremitting attention. She never 

 laid any eggs during this lengthened period of maternal super- 

 vision, and if at any time she became accidentally separated 

 from her charge, the distress of both mother and chicken was 

 very great. Eventually the separation seemed to take place on 

 the side of the pea-cock ; but it is remarkable that although the 

 mother and chicken eventually separated, they never afterwards 

 forgot each other, as usually appears to be the case with hens 

 and their chickens. So long as they remained together the 

 abnormal degree of pride which the mother showed in her won- 

 derful chicken was most ludicrous ; but I have no space to enter 

 into details. It may be stated, however, that both before and 

 after the separation the mother was in the habit of frequently 

 combing out the top-knot of her son — she standing on a seat, or 

 other eminence of suitable height, and he bending his head for- 

 wards with evident satisfaction. This fact is particularly note- 

 worthy, because the practice of combing out the top-knot of their 

 chickens is customary among pea-hens. In conclusion I may 

 observe, that the pea-cock reared by this Brahma hen turned out 

 a finer bird in every way than did any of his brothers of the same 

 brood which were reared by their own mother, but that on 

 repeating the experiment next year with another Brahma hen 

 and several pea-chickens, the result was different, for the hen 

 deserted her family at the time when it is natural for ordinary 

 hens to do so, and in consequence all the pea-chickens miserably 

 perished. 



I have just concluded another experiment which is well worth 

 recording. A bitch ferret strangled herself by trying to squeeze 

 through too narrow an opening. She left a very young family 

 of three orphans. These I gave, in the middle of the day, to a 

 Brahma hen which had been sitting on dummies for about a 

 month. She took to them almost immediately, and remained 

 with them for rather more than a fortnight, at the end of which 

 time I had to cause a separation, in consequence of the hen 

 having suffocated one of the ferrets by standing on its neck. 

 During the whole of the time that the ferrets were left with the hen 

 the latter had to sit upon the nest ; for the young ferrets, of course, 

 were not able to follow the hen about as chickens would have 

 done. The hen, as might be expected, was very much puzzled 

 at the lethargy of her offspring. Two or three times a day she 

 used to fly off the nest, calling upon her brood to follow ; but 

 upon hearing their cries of distress from cold, she always returned 

 immediately and sat with patience for six or seven hours more. 

 I should have said that it only took the hen one day to learn the 

 meaning of these cries of distress ; for after the first day she 

 would always run in an agitated manner to any place where I 

 concealed the ferrets, provided that this place was not too far away 

 from the nest to prevent her from hearing the cries of distress. 

 Yet I do not think it would be possible to conceive of a greater 

 contrast than that between the shrill peeping note of a young 

 chicken and the hoarse growling noise of a young ferret. On 

 the other hand, I cannot say that the young ferrets ever seemed 

 to learn the meanings of the hen's clucking. During the whole 

 of the time that the hen was allowed to sit upon the ferrets she 

 used to comb out their hair with her bill, in the same way as 

 hens in general comb out the feathers of their chickens. While 

 engaged in this process, however, she used frequently to stop and 

 look with one eye at the wriggling nest-full with an inquiring gaze 



* The greatest prolongation of the incubatory period I have ever known 

 to occur was in the case of a pea-hen which sat very steadily on addled eggs 

 for a period of four months, and had then to be forced off in order to save 

 her life. 



expressive of astonishment. At other times, also, her family 

 gave her good reason to be surprised ; for she used often to fly 

 off the nest suddenly with a loud scream — an action which was 

 doubtless due to the unaccustomed sensation of being nipped by 

 the young ferrets in their search for the teats. It is further 

 worth while to remark that the hen showed so much uneasiness 

 of mind when the ferrets were taken from her to be fed, that at 

 one time I thought she was going to desert them altogether. 

 After this, therefore, the ferrets were always fed in the nest, and 

 with this arrangement the hen was perfectly satisfied — apparently 

 because she thought that she then had some share in the feeding 

 process. At any rate she used to cluck when she saw the milk 

 coming, and surveyed the feeding with evident satisfaction. 



Altogether I consider this a very remarkable instance of the 

 plasticity of instinct. The hen, it should be said, was a young 

 one, and had never reared a brood of chickens. A few months 

 before she reared the young ferrets she had been attacked and 

 nearly killed by an old ferret which had escaped from his hutch. 

 The young ferrets were taken from her several days before their 

 eyes were open. 



In conclusion I may add, that a few weeks before trying this 

 experiment with the hen I tried a similar one with a rabbit. In 

 this case the ferret was newly born, and I gave it to a white doe 

 rabbit which had littered six days before. Unlike the hen, how- 

 ever, she perceived the imposture at once, and attacked the 

 young ferret so savagely that she broke two of its legs before I 

 could remove it. To have made this experiment parallel with 

 the other, however, the two mothers ought to have littered on 

 the same day. In this case the result would probably have been 

 different ; for I have heard that under such circumstances even 

 such an intelligent animal as a bitch may be deceived into rear- 

 ing a cat, and vice versd* George J. Romanes 



Dunskaith, Ross-shire, Oct. 10 



Curious Australian and N. American Iirplement 

 A VERY interesting illustration of the occurrence of the same 

 specialised implement in widely separated regions is found in the 

 resemblance between the vermin hooks of the Australians and 

 the same kind of weapon found among the Ute Indians. 

 Several of the former were brought home by Wilkes' Expe- 

 dition, and are found in the National Museum (Fig. i). They 



Fig. I. — ^Australian vermin hook. 



have highly finished handles, and the bone hook is fastened on 

 with wrapping and gum. Of the latter, Major Powell, in his 

 Colorado Report (1875), says, " These Indians all carry canes 

 with a crooked handle, they say to kill rattlesnakes, and to pull 

 rabbits from their holes " (Fig. 2). 



=^ 



^ 



Fig. 2. — Pai-Ute vermin hooks. 



The Ute implement is very rude, consisting of a switch 

 merely, with the bark stripped off, and a nail passed through the 

 thick end at an acute angle, and firmly lashed with sinew. 

 Major Powell's Fig. 45, entitled " The Human Pickle," has 

 two of these hooks (or canes) in his hand. O. T. Mason. 



Washington, D.C., Oct. 13 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 Double Stars, (i)/ Eridani.— In the year 1850 the 

 late Capt. Jacob calculated two orbits for this binary 

 system, the second of which represents very fairly his 

 subsequent measures to the end of 1857, a rather severe 

 test for elements founded upon the data available in 1850. 

 We look in vain for measures later than Capt. Jacob's, 

 though it may be hoped this and other interesting objects 



* Apropos to what Mr. Spalding says about the early age at which the 

 instinctive antipathy of the cat to the dog becomes apparent, I may state 

 that some months ago I tried an experiment with rabbits and ferrets some- 

 what similar to that which he describes with cats and dogs. Into an outhouse 

 which contained a doe rabbit with a very young family I turned a ferret 

 loose. The doe rabbit left her young ones, and the latter, as soon as they 

 smelled the ferret, began to crawl about in so energetic a manner as to leave 

 no doubt that the cause of the commotion was fear, and not merely the dis- 



no aouD 

 I comfort 



arising from the temporary absence of the mother. 



