Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1911-12-13
THE HoMiNG INSTINCT.
What Would Men DO II They Sud-
denly became Blind?

What Would Men DO IL They Sud-
denly Became Blind?
Every evening at the crush honr"
thousands and thousands Of people in
New York city stream out OF their offices
and workshops and sort themselves into
their separate grooves to their homes. A
visitor from another and less advanced
planet might wonder how they do it.
1t Is the same with nature. Every day
! and night millions OF creatures find their
way home over long distances with un-
erring accuracy; and some OF us wonder
how it is done.
Imagine what would be the effect il the
/ whole of New York we're suddenly struck
| blind at o'clock. A few minutes awful
silence, during which everybody would be
/ grouping about in wild stupefaction;
! then vast stampede. Thousands upon
I thousands would be falling and tramping
! upon one another, and hardly single in
| dividual would find his house. This
/ means that human beings are chiefly de-
| pendent upon their sense OF sight in order
I that they may proceed from place to place
/ With NATURES creatures things vary.
/ An ant, for instance, could find its way to
/ the nest il it were struck blind. Indeed,
there are some that doubt that this insect
/ has sight at ALL in the commonly accepted
| sense Trailing out from an ants nest are
many tiny ant tracks branching out into
! tributaries. Along these tracks thous-
| ands OF ants crawl daily to and fro. Some
| of the ants travel into the forests distances
| equal by comparison to mans twenty
mile walk They find their way entirely
by the sense Of smell.
| Caterpillars, as a rule, rely upon light
| and grayitation. A caterpillar fallen from
tree detects the presence OF the trunk by
its shadow and attraction. This is not
nearly so good guide as the ants sense
Of smell, for il another tree happens to be
growing opposite, unsuitable to feed upon,
| the caterpillar will crawl to that tree and
have all its journey for nothing. Also il a
| brick wall chances to be nearer than the
| tree it will make for the brick wall.
But some caterpillars are much cleverer
| than this. The caterpillar Of the purple
emperor butterfly" chooses in its infancy
specially selected leaves to sleep upon. AT
dusk and dawn it crawls away over an APP
parently trackless waste OF branches to
some favorite spot to have supper and
breakfast. When the meals are finished it
invariably finds its way back to its home,
! because it has left thin trail OF silk along
the branches. This silk forms a kind
OF guiding string such as sometimes as
sists explorers to retrace their way out OF
catacombs.
But when we come to consider the case
OF the bee we must admit the homing
faculty is much more mysterious, since
bees can neither leave tracks OF scent nor a
web. How is it a bee can fly all over
town and yet invariably come home to
hive in the evening? There can be little
doubt so intelligent an insect as this has
long memory and keen eye for land
marks. This is testified to by the fact
that almost all bees fly by day, whereas
such creatures as moths, OF no fixed home
or occupation, fly in the darkness. bee
would be lost at midnight because 1t
could not recognize its surroundings.
The same method is pursued by birds,
although naturalists differ widely on this
subject There is little reason to doubt
migrating bird knows the difference be-
tween north and south; so that when the
niyhtiar. for instance, is leaving Africa for
england it begins its homeward journey
by going due north. Now 1t does not foi-
low that any nightjar ever Intentionally
aaw straight from Africa to England. He
, NAV easiiy make a mistake and lind him.
se,f in France. But France, being just as
suited to his purposes, the matter may De
settled right there, and he may drop oowh
in the woods near Paris.
In short. the homing instinct in migrat,
| | ing birds consists OF their wohueriui
ability to detect changes in tue chmate
and the direction OF the compass, Ior tnell
sshome" may cover large area. Inc resi-
ia ali accomplished by the observation OF
j, Most animals, such as the fox, the vol
4 and the rabbit, find their way back e
their homes by combination OF slght
memory and smell. The fox could smell
|, LIZ wsy nome il he were suddenly struck
g Hind. But there are extraordinary cases
: ~ cats. dogs and pigeons travelling ovel
vast distances, where it seems impossi bi'
for either sight or scent to be OF muci
assistance. For instance, teLneI ssne =
. new home in Ohio returned TO It's OH
master in Pennsylvania over distance
,,aarlv 10O miles. In all cases like these
g. ,nemorv and sight are of hardly any US
lie except in the immediate neighnornooa 9
10 s.homeu. OF what service can their smel
be when the track they traverse - nev
A. and strange? n;.ao,.
% We are. therefore, forced to conclude tina
r w animals possess the sense OF direc
lie s;"n so highly developed that, no matte
how or where they are tsken' tn1y ~,
,sst trails like the silk trail Of the caterpii