The Arabs have a story that when an angel of Allah offered to King Solomon the water of immortality in a ruby cup it was a dove that dissuaded him from drinking it, and thereby from living mournfully to survive those whom he loved in an earth grown desolate and lonely. And it was because of the maternal courage of a dove which had followed its captive nestlings all the way to the prophets house that Mohammed instituted that merciful decree which still prevails all over the East, and which forbids true believers to touch or even to taste of the flesh of any creature which has not been "hallalled"; that is to say, over which, while alive, the prayer of pardonable bloodshed has not been uttered.

The birds, gentle and stainless, which Sappho sang of, harnessed to the golden chariot of the "Splendor-throned Queen, immortal Aphrodite," in some cases have been converted into messengers of death and ruin. Some hold that this is better than to see them immolated for prizes by unsportsmanlike gunners at Monte Carlo and such places, for the birds remain unaware of their new duties, and carry messages from a beleaguered fortress, or the call for aid from a sinking warship, or the state of a suffering patient, alike carelessly and ignorantly, as if the missives tied to their feet were perfumed messages sent by lovers.

In the early '90s Dr. S. Weir Mitchell of Philadelphia used pigeons in the case of a patient ill of nerve fatigue, several miles from his home, thus accomplishing two purposes — a daily report and the salutary effect of leading the worn mind of the patient into a new channel.

Dr. Philip Arnold, in a recent medical journal, tells of receiving messages from his patients in the country every day, in addition to his daily visits to them. His plan usually is to leave a pigeon the day he makes a visit, and direct that the pigeon be liberated the next day with such a message as he requires. With a little care in the instruction of the nurse, he is informed of the condition of the patient before he starts to make his next visit. In a country practice this is important, since it enables the physician to judge what will be needed for his patient in the next twenty-four hours, and the country physician usually is his own druggist.

Then, again, country doctors cannot often make more than one call on a patient in twenty-four hours, and by an aerial messenger service they can get practically the same information as the doctors in the city or hospital practice by leaving two pigeons and getting morning and evening reports. The country doctor often is called from one patient to other persons sick in the neighborhood. This will make him late in getting back, and it is a great convenience if he can send this information home, practically with the same speed as the city practitioner through the medium of the telephone service.

Dr. Arnold suggests that physicians wishing to take this matter up in earnest first of all should purchase only the best of Belgian homing pigeons, one or two pairs well mated. No reliance can be placed on young birds newly purchased for message carriers. Young birds, to be of service, must have been hatched in the home loft. The old birds secured for breeding must not be given their liberty until they have hatched one or two broods. The youngsters at a certain age can be trained.