Carrier Pigeons

Carrier pjget ns, it is announced, nre OW the "M:y nifdiis of c.i miiiuiiieitiori etwee;i Paris aad Tours, where tha seat of govertnueut of Fraucn lias heen temorarily establiibed. Since the introluoiiou of tlie elec'ro-matrnetic tele rraph tba use of carrier pigeons bas u-arly beeu discontinued, altbough the meana of ennveyitig secret intelligence n still employed. They hare, however ceu muro used in tbe Turkish dominon tlian io any part of the world. Tlio idvantages to be derired from carrier jigeons are very limited, as they canïot be ili.-ijntclivil to tbeir homes exoept under peculiar circumstances. Ttius carrier piguons must be bioujjht from ihe laco to which tbey tire to return within i sliort period, not exceediug two weeks of tlieir beiiin; let luose, and at a lime wlien they bave young íd tlieir nesfs. - The biid must i'so lie kppt in tbe dsrk, and without food for eight or ten hours 3efore being released. Tbe message is written on very thiu paper, and inclosed in an envclope tied around tbe body and under the wings Anotlier incouvenience, when tbe journej is for a long distance, ariecs frum t e bird's aligbting in quest of uater, by which the message may ïoceive injury and be obliteiated. - In order to alleviate tbe pans of tliirt it is cutitouiary to bathe tbu j-igeon's feet in vi'iegar so as to keep tbem cool. - Tbe instinct by whiob the oar'iur ('igeon in {ruided has tiever reoeived a aufficient explaiiution, other birds pofBüss cqual and evou greator powers of visión, bul caui.ot bo traincd to carry ir.es.ages - When the carrier is lut I.ioko it rises spirally in tbe air to a great heiglit. anc iben procceds to iis bome at the ratj o! thirty mües an hcur The oanier pigoot is ot a reinarkably large ze, bo:ng lif been inches in length trom ibe poiut o the bill to lbo cu J of tba tiiil. Tbe na ked skin on the bill is very large, and is oovered with red fleshy exoreecenoes ; - tbe eyes are eurrounded with a broac oircle of naked red skin, and ibe wings rcacb noaily to the extremity of the teil, Tbe ciirnor pigoong re trained u an cnily ugo by benig at h'ist tüken a few miles from home iind thiMi let lonne Tbe 1istaüce is graduuliy increased uu til the birds uequire greal fncility iu oarryiog messuges. Au actual postal , systeiu, in whicb pigeoi s were the mesI Bengers, wu establisbed by the Sultan Noureddiu Mahtnoad, wiio died in 1174. Tbis pigetiu mail lasted lor over four years, or until 1258, wben t was destroyed by the Mongola, who oaptured Bagdad.