950 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 703 



are listed by Marsli in the same year. 

 These 55 species are, so far as the writer 

 can learn, all that are known for the state. 

 Collections have been made by the au- 

 thor from a number of lakes on the eastern 

 slope of the Rocky Mountains. These lakes 

 comprise a pretty complete series, from 

 plains lakes at an altitude of about 5,000 

 feet, to lakes at 11,500 feet which are never 

 free from snow and ice. The alpine Ento- 

 mostraca and the factors governing their 

 distribution are being studied. Collections 

 show that there is a rich Entomostracan 

 fauna, except in the very highest lakes, 

 where all animal life is scarce. The writer 

 has thus far determined 14 species, three 

 of which are new to the state. 

 The Relation between Habitat and the 

 Taxonomic Characters of Gryllus: Frank 

 E. LuTZ, Carnegie Station for Experi- 

 mental Evolution, Cold Spring Harbor, 

 N. Y. 



Size of taxonomic characters is a func- 

 tion of the factors of the environment. 



Sociology applied to Pigeons: "Wallace 



Craig, State Normal School, Valley City, 



North Dakota. 



Zoology and psychology have long la- 

 bored to explain the elaborate singing and 

 cooing, dancing and strutting, and other 

 such performances of birds. The results 

 have been most unsatisfactory — zoology 

 and psychology are not sufficient to explain 

 such behavior, for it needs sociologic treat- 

 ment. ■ 



An intimate acquaintance with pigeons 

 impresses one with the fact that their coo- 

 ing and strutting performances are a kind 

 of ceremony. Just as the primitive man 

 must perform a certain ceremony upon 

 every important occasion in his life, so the 

 pigeon must give a certain call or coo, and 

 . must go through a bowing or strutting per- 

 formance upon all important occasions; as, 

 when he awakes in the morning, when he 



goes to roost at night, when he joins the 

 flock, when he meets another male to fight, 

 when he meets a female to court, etc. 



The utility of these pigeon performances 

 is the same as that of ceremony in primi- 

 tive man— social control. There is a preva- 

 lent notion that animals which form socie- 

 ties, especially the ants, bees and wasps, are 

 so mechanically bound together as to be 

 free from that conflict between individu- 

 ality and sociality which is so marked in 

 human life. This notion is erroneous: it 

 is probably erroneous even with regard 

 to ants, bees and wasps; it is certainly 

 erroneous if applied to pigeons; the 

 pigeon is a true free individual, hence 

 social ends among pigeons can be secured 

 only by some means of social control. The 

 social life of pigeons is chiefly family life 

 of a highly complex and specialized nature : 

 the numerous details of this family life are 

 regulated by social control; the actions of 

 the different individuals in the family are 

 connected and socialized through control 

 by ceremonial observances. 



Occurrence of the Cysticercus of Twnia 

 solium in Sheep: B. H. Ransom, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. 

 A number of eases of the occurrence of 

 cystieerci in the muscles of sheep have been 

 reported by various authors. In most cases 

 the data given are not sufficient to show 

 definitely whether the cystieerci in question 

 belong to Tcenia solium, the armed tape- 

 worm of man, as some authors have be- 

 lieved, or whether they belong to Tcenia 

 hydatigena, the marginate tapeworm of the 

 dog, as maintained by other authors. Bon- 

 gert ( 1899 ) , however, has described a cysti- 

 cercus found in the muscles of a sheep, 

 which is evidently the cysticercus of Tcenia 

 solium, and that the sheep may act as the 

 intermediate host of this tapeworm of man 

 seems therefore to be pretty well estab- 

 lished. 



