Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1893 — The Instinct of Locality. [ARTICLE]

The Instinct of Locality.

An interesting experiment was tried by a Maine farmer’s family, not long since, with a mud turtle, which had been brought to the house from a small a quarter of a mile away. It was noticed that when set free the reptile travelled off in the direction of the pond ("going back home,” said one of the lads), nnd this led them to put him to the test. He was tried under a great variety of circumstances which might tend to confuse even a mud turtle of uncommon mental capacity; but put him down in whatever way they would, or auy where, he would instantly turn his stubby nose straight for the pond and walk off with every appearance of one who knows he is right and intends to go ahead. He evidently had the same instinct or supernatura, knowledge so often observed in pigs, dogs, and cats, which will take a bee line for home when they could not possibly know its direction by any power of observation possessed by human beings. It may not be amiss to note in connection with the turtle incident the experiments tried by au eminent English naturalist with bees, which possess the same peculiar knowledge of direction. He took bees from their hive and carried them in a close box by a circuitous course to a point at a considerable distance away; but on liberation they would start straight for the hive. After testing thitf repeatedly, he stopped on the way while carrying the box and whirled it rapidly around his head a number of times. Than when liberated the bees were oonfused and flew about in various directions, not knowing where to go. From this ho attributed the faculty of flying straight for home to result from the keen attention paid by the bees to the direction taken while they were being carried away, and which the whirling of the box upset completely.—[Lewiston (Me.) Journal.