Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/36

28 CARRIER PIGEON CARROLL to all the domesticated varieties. The mode of training them in Turkey, where the art is sup- posed to be carried to the greatest perfection, is this : The person who has the charge of rear- ing and training them takes the young pigeons when they have got their full strength of wing in a covered basket to a distance of about half a mile from their home ; they are then set at liberty, and if any of them fail in returning home from this short distance, they are con- sidered stupid, and are rejected as valueless. Those that return home are then taken to great- er distances, progressively increased to 1,000 miles, and they will then return with certainty from the furthest parts of the kingdom. In England it is usual to keep these birds in a dark place for about six hours before they are used ; they are then sparingly fed, but have as much water given them as they will drink. The paper on which the message is written should be carefully tied round the upper part of the bird's leg, but so as in no wise to impede its flight. It appears from an English ballad, and from a line in Tasso, that in older times the original way of suspending the despatch was from the wing or round the neck; but the above method is that now adopted. The an- tiquity of the use of these birds for the purpose of bearing intelligence to distant parts or persons, and the perseverance with which some varieties (that which is named, from its peculiar fitness, the carrier more especially), when well trained, will return from long dis- tances, is well known ; but it is not known when or by whom the pigeon was first applied to this purpose. We have the authority of Sir John Mandeville that the Asiatics used them for the same purpose as the Romans. During the crusade of St. Louis they were so employed ; Tasso presses them into service in the siege of Jerusalem, making Godfrey defend one when attacked by a falcon ; and Ariosto makes the castellan di Damiata spread the news of Or- rilo's death by a messenger dove. During the late siege of Paris these birds were employed to convey messages beyond the German lines; very long documents, printed by micro-photog- raphy on films indestructible by water, and weighing only a few grains, were thus transmit- ted with great success. The ordinary rate of the flight of carrier pigeons is not generally held to exceed 30 miles an hour, although instances of a double or even triple rate of velocity are recorded. The education of car- rier pigeons is entirely progressive; the dis- tance flown being gradually and slowly in- creased from half a mile up to 20 or 30 miles. "When the bird is able to accomplish this, he may be trusted to fly any distance overland, within the limits of physical power. The younger the bird is, if it have strength to fly well, the greater is the chance of educating it to be a good bearer of a despatch. .If this drill- ing be not commenced early, birds of the best breed cannot be trusted. When thrown up the bird rises, and when it has reached a good height will at first fly round and round evidently for the purpose of finding some well known land- mark, and then make off, continuing on the wing without stop or stay, unless prevented, till its home is reached. If no such landmark is found, the bird is lost. Thus pigeons, when loosed from a balloon at a great height, have, after flying round and round, returned to the balloon for want of objects to guide them in their homeward flight. The magnetic telegraph has now rendered the service of carrier pigeons, unless in times of siege, of little use. CARR1GALIXE, a parish of Ireland, in the county and 8 m. S. of Cork ; pop. about 7,000. It contains fine marble and slate quarries. The village, on Owenboy river, possesses some archaeological interest on account of a ruined castle of the earls of Desmond, and the remains of a religious house and of a Danish fort in the vicinity. The church is a fine building in the perpendicular style. In a neck of the river near by Sir Francis Drake once took shelter, when hard pressed by a Spanish fleet. CARRO, Jean de, a German physician, born in Geneva, Aug. 8, 1770, died at Carlsbad, March 12, 1857. Taking up his abode in Vienna in 1795, he became celebrated by his eftbrts in spreading Jenner's system of vaccination as a protection against smallpox in Germany, Hun- gary, Poland, and Russia. In 1800 he sent a quantity of virus to Lord Elgin at Constanti- nople, together with a work of his own, trans- lated into Turkish, on vaccination. The at- tempts of the English to introduce vaccination into India having been unsuccessful, because the virus had deteriorated on the way, Carro procured vaccine matter from cows of Lom- bardy, and sent it to Dr. Hnrford at Bagdad. This retained all its strength, and was the means of introducing kinepox inoculation into India. The Hindoos consider it to be derived from a sacred cow, to which they give the name of amurtum, or immortality. Carro published Observations et experiences sur Vino- culation de la vaccine (Vienna, 1801); His- toire de la vaccination en Turquie, en Grece et aux Indes Orientales (1803); Carlsbad et sea eavx minerales (1827) ; and Vingt-huit ant d 1 observation et d 1 experiences a Carlsbad (1853). For many years he published annually the Almanack de Carlsbad. CARROLL, the name of 14 counties in the Uni- ted States. 1. An E. county of New Hampshire, bordering on Maine ; area, about 560 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 17,332. Lake Winnipiseogeo separates it from Belknap county on the S. W., and within its own limits are several smaller lakes and ponds and numerous small streams. The surface is mountainous and broken, Os- sipee mountain and Conway peak being the principal summits. The soil is productive, but much labor is required for its cultivation. The Portland and Ogdensburgh railroad runs Jo North Conway, and the Portsmouth, Great Falls, and Conway railroad is being extended into the county. The chief productions in