Chap. XVII. PREFERENCES IN PAIRING. 273 



Hoffberg, in describing the domesticated reindeer of 

 Lapland, says, " Foemina majores et fortiores mares 

 " pr88 cseteris admittunt, ad eos confugiunt, a jimiori- 

 " bus agitatee, qui lios in fugam conjiciunt." ^* A clergy- 

 man, who has bred many pigs, assures me that sows 

 often reject one boar and immediately accept another. 



From these facts there can be no doubt that with 

 most of our domesticated quadrupeds strong individual 

 antipathies and preferences are frequently exhibited 

 and much more commonly by the female than by the 

 male. This being the case, it is improbable that the 

 unions of quadrupeds in a state of nature should be 

 left to mere chance. It is much more probable that 

 the females are allured or excited by particular males, 

 who possess certain characters in a higher degree than 

 other males ; but what these characters are, we can 

 seldom or never discover with certainty. 



u 



' Amoenitates Acad.' vol. iv. 1788, p. 160. 





VOL. II. T 



