CHAPTER VIII. 



The Colombophile. 



The employment of pigeons as letter-carriers 

 during the war between France and Germany, 

 and the various articles thereon which appeared 

 in the periodicals of the day — " compiled by 

 persons quite ignorant of the subject " on which 

 they wrote, and the " most singular errors [that] 

 have consequently been published," induced 

 Tegetmeier in the year 1871 to write his popular 

 little treatise, " The Homing or Carrier Pigeon 

 (Le Pigeon Voyageur) : its History, General 

 Management and Method of Training." It was 

 published, like his previous larger work on the 

 subject, by Messrs. George Koutledge & Sons, of 

 London and New York. This interesting little 

 book has long since been out of print, and I am 

 indebted for a sight of a unique copy, annotated 

 by the master's own hand, to the kindness of 

 Mr. A. H. Osman, editor of the Racing Pigeon. 

 To this gentleman Tegetmeier, with characteristic 

 generosity and the propensity to put aside the 

 evidences of jaits accotnplis when interested in 

 other subjects, presented some years ago all his 

 works connected with racing pigeons, including 

 his press-cuttings album, with articles and notes 

 referring to the early history of the sport, written 



F2 



