ANIMAL AVOCATIONS 
221 
while porpoises plough their way through the 
sea in a more or less compact body, following 
a leader. 
A very amusing story about the latter is 
related by the captain of a ship. One day 
when his vessel was passing a shoal of por¬ 
poises, and noticing that his passengers were 
very interested in watching the creatures’ 
manoeuvres, he thought he would improve the 
occasion by telling the onlookers that he could 
control their movements with the aid of his 
voice alone. In order to convince his doubting 
audience that he could accomplish what he 
had undertaken to do, he sent for a megaphone 
and proceeded with his task of drilling the 
porpoises. Shouting through the instrument, 
he commanded the creatures to turn to the 
right, and almost immediately they complied 
with his request, and in a like manner they 
also turned to the left when ordered to do so. 
This performance was continued for some 
time with unfailing success, and so astonished 
and interested were the onlookers that they 
failed to notice that when an order was given 
for the animals to turn one way the boat was 
steered in the opposite direction, the porpoises 
merely continuing in a straight line all the 
time. 
The larvae of the procession moth, when 
