A veteran naturalist : being the life and work of Tegetmeier . rease its kind, or the worldwould soon be overstocked with pigeons, butthis does not increase my respect for theirslayers. I believe the best possible use you canput a deliberate murderer to is to hang him,pour encourager les autres ; but this belief doesnot raise the hangman to the dignity of agentleman in my estimation ; nor can I see anymore true sport or manly dignity in the per-formance of a languid swell who backs himselfto kill forty-five pigeons out of fifty, his valet-de-chambre loading his gun, than in that of thevulg
A veteran naturalist : being the life and work of Tegetmeier . rease its kind, or the worldwould soon be overstocked with pigeons, butthis does not increase my respect for theirslayers. I believe the best possible use you canput a deliberate murderer to is to hang him,pour encourager les autres ; but this belief doesnot raise the hangman to the dignity of agentleman in my estimation ; nor can I see anymore true sport or manly dignity in the per-formance of a languid swell who backs himselfto kill forty-five pigeons out of fifty, his valet-de-chambre loading his gun, than in that of thevulgar snob who wagers that he will kill anddress a dozen sheep in less time than any otherbutcher—gambling, not sporting, is the aimof both. The book ends, too, with a characteristic touch,and as it deals with Tegetmeiers w^ell-knownadvocacy of Intelligence as against Instinct inthe homing faculty of pigeons, I venture to givethe paragraph—the only reference to the subjectfor wrhich I have space. He winds up the lastchapter by saying: I have paid much attention. / s -- i ^ H A [Facing p. 73. THE COLOMBOPHILE 73 to the subject, and have endeavoured to investi-gate all the cases of so-called instinctive flyingthat have come under my notice. I have alwaysfound them to be based on mere hearsay evidence,totally destitute of proof, and of impossiblerepetition—no more worthy of credence thanthe tricks of a contemptible conjuror, half-rogue,half-charlatan, who tells us that he subverts thelaws that govern the universe, and floats in theair at will, or causes tables at command to walkup a wall. I cannot trace whether this bookwent into a new edition, or was revised ; I aminclined to think not: the probability is it wasof too popular a nature to appeal to itsauthor, who was scientific rather than com-mercial, and was fonder of investigating freshpoints than revising old and settled subjects. Always keen on the utilisation of his pet birdfor national, military and naval purposes,Tegetm
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1916
