The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1874-01-10
INTELLIGENCE OF ANIMALS.
The.FacNity with which they Retul
TO their 4 ccuslOmea uaMnls.

singular faculty with which certain an
finals 1eturn 20 their accustomed
abodes after having been taken away
to strange and distant places, has al
ways been subject of wonder. No
philosophical reason has yet been as
signed for the faculty, power by
which animals are thus enabled to find
their way home without any guide
other than pure instinct, orssome supe-
rlor and still more mysterious faculty.
| The cat, though carried from home to
great distance by tortuous path,
and so concealed as to have seen moth
ing of the ground over which it was
taken, as not even to know the direc
ton Of its Journey. will turn its steps,
in the first moment of it's freedom, to
its wonted haunts. The carrier pigeon,
| by still more wonderful exer.
else of the same sagacity, will travel
thousands of miles across oceans where
there can be no trace of its path, and
from distances whence no sense of
sight OF smell can possibly guide it's
motions, and with inconceivable rapid
ity and unvarying directness pursue
its homeward course. Migratory birds,
after months Of absence from their ma
|
certainty to build their nests in the
same neighborhood and upon the same
cherished tree. The means by which
this is accomplished is beyond human
reason or knowledge. The intuitiye
power which it involves battles scion
tific investigation, and it had not en-
tered into the imagination of man to
conceive of the physical or soul capac
ity with which animals are thus en-
dOwed.
A late number of the Bulletin de la
S0cjete Royot Pr0tectrice DIES Ani-
n2alhr, published at Brussels, contains
some anecdotes illustrative of the mex
plicable faculty of animals, which are
worth noticing for the benefit of Amer
lean readers who are curious IN such
matters. A dog was sent, as a present,
to friend, a distance of twenty-five
miles. He was conveyed IN closed
carriage. On the night of his arrival
at his place of destination the dog
contrived to make his escape, and be-
fore noon the next day had returned
to the point of departure, although
the route tIayersed chain Of steep
and rugged mountains.
| Two or three cattle disappeared one
night from u large herd that was being
| driven from mountains in Wales TO the
! London market, and it was supposed
that they had been stolen. Five days
afterward the stray cattle appeared at
| the place in the mountains from which
| they had been driven, having travelled,
in returning to their first love, ut least
| $50 miles. The incident is not merely
q verifcatlon of Scripture, that the OK
| knoWeth his owner as well as the ass
| his masters crib, but it is a complete
refutation OF the proverblal libel
against the Intelligence of that patient
and useful animal,
Crabs, it is well known, are gener-
ally taken to market alive, being con-
fined IN boxes, in mass. The fisher
men of Falmouth, in England, are
accustomed to collect their crabs
jointly, or at least to throw them into
one mass for transportation to market.
They take care, however to mark the
shells by branding them with hot
iron IN such a manner as that each one
one may know the lot which belongs to
him. When thus marked they are
packed ID boxes and conveyed to the
market III boats, some ten miles from
the rocky clefts whence they ale taken
In one instance, when a boat-load thus
marked and packed had reached Fal-
mouth harbor within Il mile or two,
one of the boxes was broken and a
considerable number Of the imprisoned
crabs made their escape Simultaneous
ly, and, as it would seem, by concert
ed arrangement. Plunging into the
water, the happy fugltIves made their
way home to their native crannies,
where, three days aiterward, the fish
ermen found many of them, recognizing
them by the brand of slavery upon
their backs. They had travelled 10l
miles, at least, on their homeward jour
rey. 1t was necessary, III the first place,
that they should find their way from
the boat to the entrance of the harbOr
of Falmouth, from whence they direct
ed their steps to the rocks of Cape
Lizard. But how they should have
known whether to turn to the right or
to the left is the greatest mystery OF
the extraordinary feat. How they got
over the distance which separated them
from their rocky habitats, is less mys
FERROUS; for they were probably Of the
species called "soldier" crabs, and
accustomed, it may be, to long march
es. 1T is not uncommon III thc West !
Indies, where they abound, TO find them
upon foragiDg expeditions six or eight |
miles from the shore.
The most remarkable instance of the |
mysterious and unerring faculty by
which animals, under all conceivable |
circumstances, are enabled to find their
way home through strange districts of
country and from great distances, re-
mains to be related. The Archduke
and Archduchess of Austria spent
portion of last winter at Mention, where,
in the hotel in which they lodged, was
a spaniel of remarkable beauty and
captivating tricks and manners. The
Archduchess became so attached to
him that upon their return to Vienna
she persuaded the landlord to allow
INN to accompany her. The little
spaniel was soon installed il the ducal
palace as favorlte, and treated
with every mark of tenderness and con-
sideration that night lead him to forget
bis old home and associations. But
the fascination of residence at court
| had no power over his better nature
One day he suddenly disappeared, and
every effort to discover his vherea-
bouts was unavaillDg. There was con-
sternation and grief at Vienna, but at
| Mention there was surprise and Joy
The faithful spaniel appeared in the
course of few days at his old home,
covered with dust and fainting with
! fatigue. He had found his way back