900 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 77. 



The scientific school of Harvard University 

 will offer, during the summer, courses in survey- 

 ing in Martha's Vineyard. 



Lieut. Murray, of the First Artillery, United 

 States Army, has been appointed to succeed 

 Capt. Pettit as professor of military tactics at 

 Yale University. 



In addition to the fellowships in the scientific 

 departments of Cornell University, announced in 

 the last number of this Journal, the following 

 appointments have been made : In civil en- 

 gineering, Stephen Gregory, C.E. (University of 

 Texas) ; chemistry. Hector E. Carveth, A.B. 

 (University of Toronto) ; physics, Arthur L. 

 Foley, A.B., A.M. (University of Indiana). 

 Twenty-two fellowships and sixteen scholar- 

 ships are awarded annually at Cornell Uni- 

 versity. 



Dr. Arthur Allin has been appointed pro- 

 fessor of psychology and pedagogy in the Ohio 

 University at Athens. 



The NaturivissenscJiaftUche Rundschau an- 

 nounces the following appointments : Dr. Otto 

 Fischer, associate professor in the University 

 of Leipzig ; Dr. Paul Eisler, full professor of 

 anatomy in the University of Halle ; Dr. L. 

 Joubin, professor of zoology in the Faculty of 

 Science at Rennes ; Dr. H. Prous, professor of 

 zoology in the Faculty of Science in Lille ; Dr. 

 J. A. Wislicenus, professor at the School of 

 Forestry at Tarandt ; Dr. ,G. Frege, full pro- 

 fessor of mathematics at the University of 

 Jena ; Dr. H. Klinger, full professor of pharma- 

 ceutical chemistry in the University of Konigs- 

 berg, and Dr. Scholl, assistant professor of 

 chemistry at Karlsruhe. 



The following docents have recently been 

 recognized in German Universities : Dr. v. 

 Geitler, at Prague, for physics ; Dr. Hans Bat- 

 terman, at Berlin, for astronomy ; Dr. Wagner, 

 of Strasbourg, at Giessen, for zoology ; Dr. J. 

 Hofer, at the technical high school at Munich, 

 for electrolysis, and Dr. Scholl, at Leipzig, 

 for physics. 



DISCUSSION AND COBEESPONDENOE. 

 THE HABIT OF DRINKING IN YOUNG BIRDS. 



To The Editor of Science : In response 

 to a request that has just reached me, may I 



ask for space in your columns to say that the 

 statement I made with regard to the habit of 

 drinking in young birds was to the following 

 effect ? The chicks that I have observed pick 

 instinctively at any small objects at suitable 

 distance. If a small drop of water be such an 

 object they will peck at that. But if a shallow 

 tin of water be placed in their run the stimulus 

 of the sight of still water does not evoke any 

 instinctive drinking response. If there be 

 grains of sand or food, or other objects at the 

 bottom of the tin, they will peck at these and 

 incidentally find the water. Sometimes they 

 will peck at a bubble on the brim. Sometimes 

 when one is thus led to drink others will follow 

 by imitation. No sooner does the beak touch 

 the water than, in the domestic chick, up goes 

 the head and the instinctive drinking response 

 is shown. I have seen ducklings waddle 

 through the tin repeatedly and not stop to drink, 

 though I had reasons for believing that they 

 were thirsty ; for when I dipped the beak of 

 one of them beneath the water he drank eagerly 

 and continued to do so for some time. On the 

 other hand a little Moor hen or water hen, 

 when I quickly lowered it at about 16 hours 

 old into water, drank so soon as its breast 

 touched the surface. It then swam otT with in- 

 stinctive definiteness of coordinated leg-move- 

 ments. 



The statement of fact (so far as my observa- 

 tions go) that I made was this : that the sight 

 of still water evoked no instinctive response ; 

 but that the touch of water in the bill at once 

 evoked the characteristic instinctive behavior. 

 C. Lloyd Morgan. 



A suggested experiment on heredity. 

 As far as I have learned, there has been as 

 yet no series of direct experiments on natural 

 selection and heredity of acquired characters 

 with adult animals. The success of Mr. Waller, 

 President Cleveland's sporting friend, in bait- 

 ing wild mallards with grain on platforms at 

 different depths, so that the ordinary mallard 

 is forced at length to dive six feet for its food, 

 suggests that if such ducks were carefully thus 

 trained, segregated and bred under scientific 

 supervision, there might come some important 

 results as bearing on the modification of struc- 



