372 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



are demanded of it. Its faculties have been developed and spe- 

 cialized in the direction sought by the breeder. Man does not 

 create in selecting; he exerts no immediate influence on the pro- 

 duction of variability. He contents himself with exposing organ- 

 ized beings, for a special purpose, to new conditions of existence. 

 Nature then acts on the organization and causes it to vary. Man 

 chooses the variations which Nature furnishes and accumulates 

 them. This is the principle, the application of which has given 

 us races of pigeons with very diff^erent aptitudes. For example, 

 French and Belgian breeders select with a view to success in the 

 races, and often specialize the instinct of their pigeons. Birds 

 from the same stock will, for instance, be trained for generation 

 after generation to the east- to- west direction ; and if we take a 

 pigeon without being acquainted with the special aptitude of its 

 ascendants, and try to train it to the north-to- south direction, we 

 shall probably meet with mishaps. In England, where much fog 

 prevails, the breeders keep only the birds that can fly through a 

 misty atmosphere. The English breeds have consequently a 

 capacity for finding their way in weather which would often baffle 

 the pigeons of other countries. For like reasons pigeons raised in 

 Sweden and Norway are able to return to their homes in the face 

 of snow, which often puts the instinct of French pigeons to fault. 

 The training of pigeons at sea requires special aptitudes, which a 

 rational breeding will develop by selection. 



We read in books on pigeon culture that the carrier pigeon is 

 hardly ever white. The reason for this is very simple : pigeons 

 on their journey are selected by birds of prey, which most readily 

 pick out those of conspicuous colors ; consequently these birds 

 disappear without having opportunity to found a stock. This 

 observation does not apply so much to the common pigeon, which, 

 never straying far from habitations, is less frequently struck by 

 the hawk. So pigeons flying near the ground are certain to fall 

 sooner or later under the shot of the hunter, and usually leave 

 very few descendants. This circumstance, independent of our 

 will, often intervenes to play an important part in the transfor- 

 mation of a domestic species. 



Selection permits us to adapt our races to any sort of service. 

 We might, for example, create a stock of birds that would retain 

 the recollection of their home for a very long period ; we might 

 develop the aptitude for traveling back and forth. We have 

 sometimes asked ourselves what limit could be fixed to the utiliza- 

 tion of the carrier pigeon. To fix a limit would be to deny the 

 principle of transformability of species, which is a law of evolution. 

 Our races are continuously undergoing modification, and are con- 

 sequently capable of indefinite improvement. Instead of looking 

 for limits to the employment of the pigeon, we should point out 



