HOW ANIMALS GET HOME. OTS 
faculty—why such an instinct should have been planted in 
the breast of animals like dogs and horses in their wild con- 
dition? They had no homes to which they could become 
attached as they do now in their artificial life; or when they 
did settle during the breeding season in any one spot, either 
they did not quit it at all, wandered only for a short dis- 
tance, or else the females alone remained stationary, while 
the males roved as widely as usual. There would seem to 
be no call, therefore, for such an instinct in the wild animal. 
That they may always have had, and do now possess, a very 
acute sense of direction, enabling them to keep the points 
of the compass straight in their minds far better than we 
ean, I am willing to admit; but I doubt whether the evi- 
dence proves a nearer approach to a homing “ instinct” 
than this. On the contrary, I believe, as I have already 
hinted, that beyond this the performances of animals in the 
line of our inquiry are the result of accurate observation 
and very retentive memory. That all these animals now 
and then do miss their bearings, get “turned around” and 
wholly lost, is true, and is a fact to be remembered in this 
discussion. 
In the case of. the birds, observation by sight is sufficient. 
They rise to a height whence they can detect a landmark, 
and flying thither, catch sight of another. The experience 
