THE "HOMING" INSTINCT 127 



public becomes acquainted with the fact that 

 pigeons are capable of finding their way over 

 hundreds of miles of land and sea, but whether 

 by instinct or training it has no time to inquire. 

 But when seriously studying these problems 

 we must search through Nature's book. Here 

 we find that the " homing " instinct, or sense 

 of direction, is not confined to dogs, cats and 

 a few others, but is manifested in a greater or 

 less degree throughout the animal world, and 

 is traceable in man . We speak of some persons 

 having the " bump of locality," whilst others 

 are not so " gifted." Like those " fitful 

 recurrences " before mentioned, the power is 

 subconscious, and the nearer we approach 

 man's primitive state the more highly 

 developed is it seen to be. 



The savage has no difficulty in finding his 

 way about in dense forests where civilized 

 man, without mechanical aid, would certainly 

 lose himself. Whereas the former is led by 

 infallible subconscious mind, the latter must 

 rely on his reasoning powers, which are liable 

 to miscalculation ; thus the man makes a 

 mistake, loses his bearings, and having no 

 sense of direction is helplessly at a loss. 



In the face of overwhelming evidence to the 

 contrary, it is difficult to understand how 

 anyone can suppose that animals have no 



