THE COLOMBOPHILE 73 



to the subject, and have endeavoured to investi- 

 gate all the cases of so-called instinctive flying 

 that have come under my notice. I have always 

 found them to be based on mere hearsay evidence, 

 totally destitute of proof, and of impossible 

 repetition — no more worthy of credence than 

 the tricks of a contemptible conjuror, half -rogue, 

 half-charlatan, who tells us that he subverts the 

 laws that govern the universe, and floats in the 

 air at will, or causes tables at command to walk 

 up a wall." I cannot trace whether this book 

 went into a new edition, or was revised ; I am 

 inclined to think not : the probability is it was 

 of too " popular " a nature to appeal to its 

 author, who was scientific rather than com- 

 mercial, and was fonder of investigating fresh 

 points than revising old and settled subjects. 



Always keen on the utilisation of his pet bird 

 for national, military and naval purposes, 

 Tegetmeier printed, in 1877, his Lecture given 

 before the Royal Engineers' Institute, Chatham, 

 which published the brochure. It was entitled, 

 " Utilization of Pigeons for Military Purposes," 

 and it was printed for private circulation only. 

 Two years afterwards he edited and revised 

 John Moore's The Columbarium, first pub- 

 lished in 1735. That Tegetmeier's edition was 

 acceptable to colombophiles (as amateur pigeon- 

 fanciers were known in those days) is shown by 

 the fact that it was re-issued in 1887. In addition 



