DUAL "PERSONALITIES."

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 308, 22 September 1908, Page 8

DUAL "PERSONALITIES."

STRANCE FACTS ABOUT ANIMALS. THE CHAMELEON. Diphyterous births —those of two individuals whose bodies are joined—arc familiar in the case of human beings. The Hungarian sisters, Helena and Judith, who were born in 1701, lived for twenty-two years, physically bound ono to the other.' The famous Siamese twins wore sixty years, old when they died in 1874. Barnuni exhibited the South Carolina nmlattress, Millie Christine. The Bohemian sisters, Rosalie and Josephs,- acquired considerable celebrity.. -There havo been many other less-known instances.

Mankind is becoming more familiar, too, with the curious fact of dual personality in one physical body, which is being studied eagerly by both physicians and.psychologists; for it concerns tho province of each. It is not a matter of common knowledge, however, that animals, as well as men, exhibit a double personality. But such is the fact, and the most curious illustration ,of it \has been found in that absurd creature, the chameleon. ■ . CHAMELEON'S DUAL INTELLIGENCE. Popular information concerning this animal is limited to its ability to'change;, its colour, which indeed it does; though it is not such a fickle chromatic curiosity as'many suppose. But this is not the chameleon's most extraordinary attribute—which, :■. investigation shows, is fouud in its dual intelligence. The chameleon is not nearly- allied to any other animal;'it stands.as a genus by itself. The nervous centres in one lateral, half operate independently of those in the other. This seems outrageous, and it is; but it is true. The chameleon has two lateral centres of perception—of sensation and of ' motion. There exists also a third centre —that common one in which abides the power of concentration) by means of which, the two sides of tho creature may be, forced to-work in harmony with each other.- • But this centre of concentration does not always dominate the situation; by any manner of means. Notwithstanding the strictly symmetrical structure of the animal's ■ two halves, the eyes move quite "independently, and they convey distinct "and separate impressions to their respective .centres of perception. As of the eyes,, so of the other members, each reports to arid ,is controlled by its own centre. "" . EVERYTHING JUMBLED. The result is that,. when, the faculty of concentration becomes disturbed/ everything is .jumbled. Jjefc the - chameleon be much agitated, and its movements grow erratic ; they are those of two creatures fastened together, or, rather, of two „ half-creatures joined. Each half exhibits its intention'of going its separate way. , The result is a' pitiable confusion of movement. There is no concordance of action in the two parts of tho wretched beast. A curious example of the chameleon's, helplessness when, unduly ex-, cited is found in the fact. that ;it cannot swim. ' The shock of being plunged into water upsets tho poise of> its faculty for concentration. Forthwith; each side strikes out wildly for itself, to its own undoing. The chameleon is the only four-legged vertebrate than cannot swim.. ..

When the creature is calm, every impulse to motion is referred to the common centre of concentration, and the entire -organism acts in fitting accord with the commands issued by that faculty. Thus; while totally different impressions from '■ the two eyes are transmitted from their centres to.the common one, that- concentrating,'power decides as to which scene is the more important, and' then directs the eye, otherwise engaged also to regard it. The same principle applies in the control of all the members—so long as the ariimal'''remains unexcit'ed. ' ' ' ■.'.•Any, 4 'obscrvet" 1 may''easjiy/.' l verify.'the existence of this dual nature'in a superficial way by some experiments with a sleeping chameleon. A touch on one side of the animal will wake that side up, while the other side sleeps calmly'on. . i LIFE PARTNERS.,., There is yet' another strange form of animal life where duality is involved. It is that of individuals having absolute separate bodies which voluntarily become' one indivisible body. This'is the case with'the Diplozoon paradoxum. The young of this species is a solitary individual ■ called diporpa. It is ciliated and free, swimming, roving at will. Sometimes it - establishes a domicile in the gills of some fresh water fish, such as the bream, the gudgeon, or the minnow, from which it draws its supply of .food. When it comes into the company of its fellows; it chooses what-is to become literally a life partner. On' the back of each diporpa is a tiny knob, and .opposite this is a sucking apparatus which is used to fasten on any surface where it desires to cling. When two of tho creatures decide to unite, their destinies, they do so by twisting over, so that each seizes the knob on the other's back with its sucker. Retaining, this union of their bodies, in time they actually grow into one being; for the knobs and suckers become fused. This unity endiires for life, though the twain animals retain otherwise their independence of, individuality.