WALTZING GUINEA PIGS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO OCULAR MOVEMENTS AND RIGHTING REFLEXES

Abstract

I became interested in the ocular movements of waltzing guinea pigs about two years ago when, by chance, I observed that they did not show the normal vestibular nystagmus on being rotated. I called this to the attention of Dr. Lurie whose guinea pigs they were and who has since reported¹ this phenomenon along with some observations of his own. But as the methods which I employed for eliciting this phenomenon have not been described and as I have made several additional observations on waltzing guinea pigs, it is my purpose in this paper to discuss the subject more fully. The importance of these observations rests on the fact that they contribute, to some extent at least, to the meager knowledge of the vestibulo-oculomotor relation. Waltzing, or circling, guinea pigs are not unlike the famous dancing mice. When excited, instead of running along the edge of the cage they