490 THE LAWS OF ORIENTATION AMONG ANIMALS. 



apparently no memory, no interest attracted him. If strong on the 

 wing, he covered 400 or 500 kilometers, perhaps more, in tbe wrong 

 direction — perceiving his mistake he knew, by some mysterious instinct, 

 how to retrace his path and hud again the point of his departure, the 

 spot of his release, which he had hardly noticed in the morning. The 

 combined work of the five senses can not explain such a return. 



A lost dog behaves in exactly the same way. When, having been 

 brought by rail to a hunting ground entirely unknown to him, and, hav- 

 ing lost his way, he returns to the place where he last saw his master, 

 and stations himself there to wait until someone comes to find him; or, 

 even further retracing his way, he will follow back again the way by 

 which he was brought and return to his home. 



Let us cite one of a number of instances of this sort which have been 

 reported to us by a trustworthy witness. 



A young dog belonging to Mr. D , a proprietor at Pont-Audemer, 



was carried to the station at Beaumont-le-Eoger, and from there to a 

 hunting ground situated between Goupillieres and Fumechon. He dis- 

 appeared during the hunt and in the evening returned to Pont-Audemer. 

 Since he was by chance observed by certain railroad employees and 

 gate keepers, who saw him pass, it has been possible to trace the road 

 which he took. The dog returned first to the station at Beaumont-le- 

 Eoger, and then walked along the railroad to Pont-Audemer, passing 

 Serquigny. To reach the station he had to walk away from home; he 

 then walked along a road which made a considerable detour, several 

 times crossing the Rille, while from Fuinecnon he could have reached 

 Pont-Audemer directly by a much shorter route. 1 



The migrations of birds have been the subject of observations too 

 well known for us to relate them. We will limit ourselves to explaining, 

 with the aid of our theory, facts which have long been known. 



The migratory bird is subject, like those of its kind that remain 

 always in the same region, to the law of the domain. Only it has two 

 domains, a summer and a winter one. It has been ascertained that the 

 same swallows come every year to occupy the same nest, and the same 

 region. The same observation has been made upon storks and upon 

 many other birds. 



When the time for departure is come, birds of the same species, 

 inhabiting the same region, come together for the journey. Those that 

 have already made the voyage take the lead and retrace the path by 

 which they came. The younger birds, born since the last journey, con- 

 fine themselves to following their elders, and when, some months later, 

 it becomes time to return, these are able in their turn to follow in a 

 reverse direction the journey previously made. 



When the migratory bird, born in our country, who has never made 



1 When, on market day, peasants lose the dog which they have brought with them 

 to the city, to seek him they go to the different places where their wagon has 

 stopped and always find him again. 



