452 



NA TURE 



\_March 13, 1884 



animals testify to some cjiTespondIng mental states. If he will 

 kindly refer to my original paper he will find that my views have 

 not undergone the change he implies, for \ then wrote; "We 

 have therefore grounds for believing that, running parallel to 

 the neuroses of animals, there are certain psychoses"; and 

 again : " Animal minds are also ejective ; they are more or less 

 distorted images of our own minds " ; and, in my " Conclusion," 

 " While fully admitting the greit interest that attaches to the 

 study of the inferred mental faculties of the higher brutes," &c. 



Were I to take his concluding remark seriously, and say that, 

 if I were the only individual to hold the view that the mental 

 life of animals cinnot be the subject-matter of a science, this 

 would not prove my view untrue, Mr. Ronanes would smile at 

 luy want of appreciation of his powers of sarcasm. I content 

 myself with drawing Mr. Romanes' attention, and that of your 

 readers, to the following quotations from Prof. Huxley's volume 

 on the Crayfish : — " Under these circumstances it is really quite 

 an open question whether a crayfish has a mind or not ; more- 

 over, the problem is an absolutely insoluble one, inasmuch as 

 nothing short of being a crayfish would give us positive assur- 

 ance that such an animal possesses consciousness. ... So we 

 may as well leave this question of the crayfish's mind on one 

 side for the present, and turn to a more profitable investigation,^^ 

 &c. (p. 89). And again : "At the most, one may be justified 

 in supposing the existence of something approaching dull feeling 

 in ourselves, and so far as snch obscure consciousness accom- 

 panies the molecular changes of its nervous substance, it will be 

 right to speak of the mind of a crayfish " (p. 126). 



The question now seems to turn on what we mean by a 

 science. Animal minds, as ejects, are distorted images of our 

 own minds. Can we frame a science which deals with these dis- 

 torted ejects? Could we frame a science of astronomy if the 

 only method of procedure were to observe the stars and planets 

 in mvaox?, of varying and tmknowH curzialiire ? If v/e can give 

 an affirmative answer to the latter question, I am ready to admit 

 that, in the same degree, we can give an affirmative answer to 

 the former. C. Lloyd Morgan 



Circular Rainbow seen from a Hill-top 

 Reading Mr. Fleming's letter in your issue of January 31 

 (p. 310), I am moved to put on record an observation of my 

 own involving shadows ani rainbows upon a cloud. On August 

 19, 187S, I was encamped upon a plateau known as Table Cliff, 

 in the southern part of Utah Territory. The plateau has its 

 longer dimension north and south, and ends southward in an 

 acute promontory, precipitous toward the south, west, and east. 

 The altitude is about 10,000 feet. On that day the air was 

 moist, and scattering clouds were to be seen both in the valley 

 beneath and in the sky above. A strong wind blew from the 

 west. On that side of the promontory the air was clear ; but at 

 the crest a cloud was formed, so that the view eastward was 

 completely cut off. This phenomenon is not unusual on moun- 

 tain summits, and has been plausibly explained as due to the 

 sudden rarefaction of the air on the lee-side of an obstacle. 

 Standing on the verge of the cliff just before sunset, I saw my 

 OAvn shadow and that of the cliff distinctly outlined on the cloud. 

 The figure appeared to be about fifty feet distant, and was not 

 colossal. About the head was a bright halo with a diameter 

 several times greater than the head. Its colours included only 

 a portion of the rainbow series, but I neglected to record them, 

 and do not venture to recite from memory. At the usual angle 

 out-ide there appeared two rainbows of great brilliancy, likewise 

 concentric with the head. They did not describe complete 

 circles, but terminated at the left and beneath, where they met 

 the shadow of the cliff. I estimated that 225° of arc were dis- 

 ]ilayed. The phenomenon was continuous for some hours, the 

 cloud-mass being persistent in position, notwithstanding the fact 

 that its particles had a velocity of twenty-five or thirty miles an 

 hour. 



The observation has more than a scientific interest, because, 

 in the popular imagination, the heads of scientific observers are 

 not usually adorned with halos. G. K. Gilbert 



Washington, U.S.A., Felnuary 25 



Right-sidedness 



In all the letters thus far published in Nature on the subject 

 of the tendency to deflection in walking, I find two things con- 

 founded which are quite distinct. There are two distinct senses 



in which we may use the term riglil-leggedness : the one refers to 

 sliengt/i, the other to dexterity or accurate co-ordination of mus- 

 cular action. In the arm these two always go together ; for 

 dexterity gives greater use (dexterity, I believe, is largely in- 

 herited), and use gives greater strength. But in the leg these 

 may be and often are dissociated. As Prof. Darwin truly says, 

 the left leg is often the stronger, but I believe the right is nearly 

 always the more dexterous. My own case is a typical one. I 

 hop on my left leg, and rise from it in jumping. But I do S) 

 not only because the left is stronger, but also, and I think 

 mainly, because I use the right more dexterously as a swinging 

 weight. The dexterous management of the free leg is certainly 

 no less important than the strength of the jumping leg. In 

 kicking or performing any other movement requiring dexterity, 

 I stand on the left leg and use the right. 



In my own case the whole body is right-sided, as far as dex- 

 terity is concerned. Impressions on my left eye are as vivid, 

 perhaps even more vivid, than on my right, yet I see more in- 

 telligently (as, for example, in using a microscope) with my right. 

 In the case of double images of near objects when looking at a 

 more distant one, it is the left-eye image (the right in position) 

 which I neglect. In pointing with the finger, whether of the 

 right or left hand, with both eyes open, it is the right-eye image 

 of the finger (the left in position) that I range with the object. 

 In the case of two or three left-handed persons on whom I have 

 made observations, I have found, on the contrary, that it is the 

 right-eye image that they neglect, and the left-eye image that 

 they use in pointing. Joseph Le Conte 



Berkeley, California, February 19 



" Suicide " of Black Snakes 



While encamped near Mount Wynne, Kimberley district, 

 for a few days from June 13, 1SS3, our .survey party saw and 

 killed several black snakes averaging about five feet in length. 

 In three days I saw seven of these unpleasant visitors in our 

 camp. As is well known, the black snake is one of the most 

 venomous of the Austrahan serpents, and whenever met with is 

 if possible destroyed. I have seen many killed, but usually they 

 die hard ; and even when the back is broken in several places 

 will linger for more than an hour, still capable of revenging them- 

 selves on an incautious assailant. 



On this occasion our men had disabled one, and as I was anxious 

 to obtain the skin I induced them to let it alone (they usually cut 

 off the head so as to insure death). While we were looking at it 

 some large black ants attacked the wounded part — about three 

 feet from its head — when it instantly turned short round and hit 

 itself twice in the neck, with seeming determination. In less 

 than one minute it was dead. There can be no doubt, therefore, 

 that it was poisoned by its own venom. 



I do not know if such a custom on the part of snakes has been 

 recorded. However, my men assured me that they had often 

 witnessed similar occurrences, especially in the case of the 

 "death" or "deaf" adder, a very venomous Australian 

 snake. One man informed me that he had often insured the 

 death of this reptile by simply pinning him to the ground by 

 means of a forked stick. In all cases the reptile would turn 

 round, bite himself, and die instantly. 



Edward F. Hardman, 

 Government Geologist 



Perth, Western Australia, January 28 



Sea Fish in Freshwater Rivers 

 During my journey up the Fitzroy River with the surveying 

 party from King's Sound to the Leopold Ranges (between lat. 

 l^' 4' and 18' 20' S.), I observed many specimens of sword- and 

 saw-fish. They appeared at intervals the whole way up the river, 

 but none observed were more than three feet or three feet six 

 inches long. About 300 miles up on the Margaret River I pro- 

 cured the saw of a small one. It measures about nine inches 

 long and two inches wide. A few days after this, a little higher 

 up the river, some of our men found a shark five feet long, and 

 recently killed, probably by natives. I could not visit the place, 

 as we were then about to break up camp for our return, but the 

 men showed us some of the teeth, which were unmistakably 

 those of a shark. They were, besides, well acquainted with the 

 appearance of that fish. 



Some time after this, when returning down a branch of the 

 Fitzroy, and camped in the sand of the river bed, I found the 



