E. M. CAMPBELL—ON" INSTINCT. 
137 
the direct route home along the basal line CA, unless he also 
knew the distances he had travelled between A and B, and 
between B and C. A hunter might form an approximate 
estimate of these distances from the pace he had been going, 
or by the occasional comparison of landmarks. But if an animal 
in a closed box be conveyed by coach or railway along a similar 
route, it could have no idea of the rapidity of its journey, 
and therefore none of the distance it had travelled. The regis¬ 
tration of such turn or angle, even if conceived to be possible, 
could be of but little service to it in discovering the bee-line home. 
This hypothetical case sufficiently represents the conditions under 
which animals are frequently said to have been removed to a 
considerable distance from home, and to have, notwithstanding, 
found their way back. I am, however, disposed to consider the 
return of an animal under these circumstances as an accidental 
result of the animal’s undirected wanderings, or of some such 
interference as that of a thief stealing it, and conveying it by a 
coincidence to some spot which it can recognise as being near its 
old quarters. Animals are frequently missing from a new home, 
and we only hear of those who return to their old one. It is of 
course easy to deny the completeness of a perplexing statement, 
and to ask for further evidence, which we know can only be 
forthcoming after carefully-conducted experiments. But there is 
no reason why animals, as well as the prairie-hunters, should not 
have a general idea of the direction of their home, when moving of 
their own accord. They have then to deal with no factor outside 
their ordinary experience, or that of their ancestors, such as a 
blindfold journey in a conveyance gives rise to, without any means 
of estimating the distance travelled. 
But the unconscious registration of turns and curves by animals, 
even in their own wanderings, scarcely seems to me sufficiently 
to account for “the sense of direction” which they appear to 
possess. I have already shown that the suggestion implies much 
more than is expressed, for the registration to be serviceable must 
include the exact distance between each turn, and the exact length 
and curvature of each curve. This will at once be seen if a 
route be described upon paper. Such an unconscious process 
must be exceedingly complex, and I will now suggest a more 
simple one which equally accounts for the phenomenon. 
I have often lost myself in the woods about Hoddesdon. It 
occurred to me one day as I was about entering Boxwood, to try 
to constantly bear in mind the direction of the spot at which I left 
the beaten track. I found this at first very difficult, but the 
occasional practice soon grew into a habit, and I now frequently 
detect myself noting semi-consciously the relation between a given 
place and my ever-changing position. I still often make mistakes 
in taking a “ bee-line,” but my error is rarely so great as to put 
me to much inconvenience. I cannot, however, remember the 
“turns” I have taken, and cannot retrace my steps. It has 
occurred to me that the “ sense of direction” in animals has been 
