chance or winds may determine, and
possibly to get into the bands of friends; and
there are (horrible idea!) balloons intended
to drop petroleum or nitro-glycerine on a
beleaguered city.

The carrier-pigeon is another kind of
messenger which the belligerents are sending
aloft during the present war—conveying
ing information neatly tucked tinder the
wing, and exceedingly difficult for the
enemy to get hold of. We do not know
much about this matter in England: but
in Belgium, Holland, and some parts of
Germany, the pigeon trainers are very
successful at their work. We hear occasionally
that on the Derby Day, or on the day
of the University Boat Race on the Thames,
pigeons are sent up at the instant of victory.
They fly to London, or to some other place,
each one to some definite home; and the
written paper fastened under the wing is
quickly opened and read by the person for
whom it is intended, and to whom it
communicates the result of the race. A
mystery of mysteries it is at first thought;
but there are certain known facts of
explanation worthy of attention.

The carrier-pigeon is larger than the
common pigeon, being usually about fifteen
inches in length, and weighing from a
pound to a pound and a half. The plumage
is generally either dun colour or black.
The pectoral muscles are very large,
denoting a power of vigorous and
long-continued flight. As to the instinct, or
whatever it may be called, which leads a
carrier-pigeon to make such wondrous
flights, naturalists seem to be pretty well
agreed that it is made up of two elements
—love of home and keenness of sight.
Mr. Rennie, speaking of the pigeon's
power of vision, says: "We have not a
doubt that it is by the eye alone that the
carrier-pigeon performs those extraordinary
aërial journeys which have from the earliest
ages excited astonishment. We have
frequently witnessed the experiment made
with other pigeons of taking them to a
distance from the dove-cot, expressly to
observe their manner of finding their way
back; and we feel satisfied that their
proceedings are uniformly the same. On
being let go from the bag in which they
have been carried in order to conceal the
objects on the road, they dart off on an
irregular excursion, as if it were more to
ascertain the reality of their freedom than
to make an effort to return. When they
find themselves at full liberty, they direct
their flight in circles round the spot whence
they have been liberated, not only
increasing the diameter of the circle at every
round, but rising at the same time gradually
higher. This is continued as long
as the eye can discern the birds; and
hence we conclude that it is also continued
after we lose sight of them—a constantly
increasing circle being made till they
ascertain some known object, enabling
them to shape a direct course." A spiral
directly the reverse in character is made
by a pigeon let down from the car of a
balloon; the bird drops perpendicularly for
some distance, and then begins to wheel
round in a descending spiral, increasing in
diameter until some previously-known
object is descried by which the flight home
may be regulated. Their vision is
undoubtedly very keen. In their wild state,
as seen in America, they fly in amazingly
large flocks over wide ranges of country,
keeping high in the air, and flying with
extended front, so as to enable them to
survey hundreds of acres at once. They
can descry a fertile field at a wonderful
distance, and will descend with unerring
accuracy to enjoy the meal of which they
are in search.

Whatever may be said about the instinct
that is at work, a good deal of training is
necessary to make the pigeons trustworthy
in their flight. The Turks have paid much
attention to this matter. When a young
pigeon arrives at full strength of wing, it
is hoodwinked, or else put into a basket,
and taken to a distance of half a mile or so
from home; being set at liberty, it soars
aloft, looks keenly around, selects a course,
and flies home. It is then tried a mile, two
miles, four, eight miles, until at length it
will traverse the whole length or breadth of
a kingdom. If the pigeon fail in the first
journey or two, it is discarded, as not being
fitted for this kind of work. These Turkey
pigeons were regularly used as media of
communication in past years. Russell, in
his History of Aleppo, tells us that the
Turkey Company's establishment at that
city employed carrier-pigeons to bring
news from Scanderoon, the nearest
Mediterranean port. When any of the
company's ships arrived there, the name of the
ship, the hour of her arrival, and other
particulars, were written on a slip of paper,
and fastened under a pigeon's wing; and
the bird, set loose, flew back to Aleppo (its
home) in two and a half to three hours, the
distance being about seventy miles. The
pigeon's feet were dipped in vinegar to
keep them cool, and to avoid the delay