The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-07-16
SENSE OF DIRECTION.
THE FACULTY IN ANIMALS THAT.
LEADS THEM BACK HOME.


of This Remarkable Power
1t is well known that any of our do
nestle animals can find its way home
from q distance, of many miles, even
after the lapse of some time. This facul-
ty is perhaps oftenest seen in the dog,
the horse and the cat, but is known to
DO almost or quite as fully developed in
the OK. The faculty has been supposed
by some naturalists to depend upon
| sixth sense, independent of sight or
smell. Such theory involves an organ
of sense by which the needed observa-
tions may be carried to the brain, an
organ which must be distinct from eye,
ear and nostril. Psychologists have not
as yet found any such organ in the con-
stitution of any animal, nor have they
found any nerves different from those
which belong to our own nervous sys-
|. TEN. This is almost conclusive evidence
that animals possess no sense different
| from ours.
If we watch the conduct of a dog
sources to find hi; way home, we shall
see that lie has made good use of his five
senses UP TO this time, and that he pur-
poses 10 make good use Of them i'll the
immediate future. 1t is always assumed
that tho dog has not slept during the
| time that he has been carried from
| home. If he were to sleep he would lose
all clew whether lie had II sixth sense or
not, for i'll sleep all the senses arc equal
| ly dormant.
The case has been submitted of q dog
taken by rail II distance of 200 miles III q
| circuitous course and set down 80 miles
from home. He disappears and the next
day is at his old haunts He could not
have followed the rail by which lie came,
| for this would take him u longer time
He must have struck across country.
The question is, Did he take direct
line for home or did lie shape his general
course so as to come out upon some IA
millar spot, miles, it may be, from his
home, and from that point follow re-
nembered paths? Hunters say that the
latter is most frequently the case.
Suppose that i'll the dogs absence the
| old home has been burned down and his
masters family have moved five miles
| to the right or left, but, are at the same
distance from the point at which he was
set down. He will 90 back to the old
|
lily by scent if he traces them at all. He
has no sense to inform linn of the
changed position of the family, nor of
anything more than would be known to
a man under the same circumstances.
But the case is made clearer by sup
posing that the dogs master has left
home, gun i'll hand, while the dog has
been detained for a time The man goes
straight TO the woods, but after getting
out of sight makes q turn so as to bring
him to the opposite side of the house. If
now the dog is let loose, he takes to the
woods at the point where he saw his mas
| ter enter. From there he trusts to his
eyes and nose, keeping close upon his
masters trail
If the dog had Il special sense of direc-
ton, he would not so easily be thrown
off the pursuit of Il deer or fox by the
animal taking TO the water. Every spe-
cies of animal that has been made the
prey of dogs has learned to battle pursuit
by deceiving the sight or scent of its pur-
suers. Such creatures would have been
likely to find out before this time if the
dog had any special sense, and we should
see them acting upon the knowledge.
The most interesting and perplexing
cases are thosein which animals that have
been taken some distance from home in
closed cages have yet found their wav
back without difficulty. This shows a
highly developed senstiveness to every
change Of direction.
This faculty Of perception is low in
man, but it may be developed and train
ed. There are persons who sleep best
with the head toward the north Let
such a person when travelling on sleep
ing car make it point TO decide upon
the course the train is going as soon as
he wakes from sleep in the night, and he
will find himself rapidly gaining new
power to determine directions.
Darwin's experiment is an interesting
one. He put some bees in dark paper
boxes and carried them by circuitous
route IL distance from the hive When
they were set free, they all returned in a
straight line TO their home.
Again ho took them over a similar
route, but on the way he spun the boxes
rapidlyaround. This time only one or two
bees reached the hive, and perhaps these
got back only by accident. While spin
ming around in the boxes they lost per-
ception of the direction in which they
were being carried.
1t is often observed that when a dog re-
turns home by Il way which he must have
made out with care and on his own ac-
count he at once throws himself upon
the floor OF the ground and sleeps sound
ly for time. This is apt to be referred
to physical exhaustion, but is more likely
to be due to the fact that the animal has
kept his faculties all on the alert and has
quickened his perceptions to their diff