130 
ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 
Dr. Bushnan makes a similar observation. 44 It is certain,” says he, 44 that ac¬ 
quired qualities, however little it may be the case amongst men, are transferred 
to the offspring among the lower animals, and that in no slight or unequivocal 
degree.” Amongst several others he gives the following fact as corroborating his 
opinion. 44 In some parts of America it is the practice to hunt herds of a species 
of Deer with trained packs of Dogs ; the Dogs are taught to attack the herd in 
line, and by this method never fail to be successful; but if any of the Dogs be 
led by excessive ardour to break into the herd singly, they are sure to be com¬ 
pletely destroyed. This uniformly happens to untrained Dogs, whatever be their 
strength or courage. But the offspring of Dogs which have been fully trained to 
this kind of warfare, require no education, but at once fall into the only kind of 
attack which can be attended not only with success, but their own personal safety.”* 
3. The power which guides birds during their migratory flights.— Dr. Gall 
mentions several instances of Dogs returning to their homes from a great distance, 
without the possibility of their having been guided by smell or sight. 44 A Dog,” 
says he, 44 was carried in a coach from Vienna to St. Petersburgh, and at the end 
of six months returned to his native city. Another Dog was sent from Lyons to 
Marseilles, where he was embarked for Naples, and he found his way back by 
land to Lyons.”f The anecdote, given by Kirby and Spense,^ of an Ass re¬ 
turning two hundred miles to a place whence it had been shipped, is so well 
known, and has been quoted so often, that I need not repeat it here. Mr. Jesse 
states that a Tortoise which had been taken on the Island of Ascension, by the 
sailors of a ship on its passage to England, was, on their arrival in the Channel, 
thrown overboard. This Tortoise had only three fins, and was marked in the 
usual way by having certain initials and numbers burnt upon its under shell 
with a hot iron, which marks are known never to be obliterated. Two years 
after its being cast into the Channel, this very Tortoise (easily recognised by the 
peculiar marks above mentioned) was again taken at its old haunt on the Island 
of Ascension. Mr. Jesse adds that the proofs brought forward of the accuracy 
of this anecdote place its authenticity beyond a doubt. || Many other anecdotes 
of a similar nature might be given, but these are sufficient. Dr. Gall be¬ 
lieves that the power which directs animals, in circumstances such as the above, 
belongs to the organ of Locality. Mr. Combe is likewise of the same opinion.il 
It is evidently the same power which guides birds during their migration. 
Bewsey House , Warrington , 
Bee. 23, 1837. 
* Bushnan’s Philosophy of Instinct and Reason^. 170,171. 
t Combe’s System of Phrenology (4th Edit.), Vol. II., p. 507. 
+ Introduction to Entomology , p. 496. Jesse’s Gleanings in Natural History , 1st Series, p. 198. 
|| Jesse’s Gleanings , 3rd Series,p. 77. ^ Combe’s System , Vol. II., p. 509. 
