574? On the alleged Transformation 



Gilbert White remarks, " As my neighbour was housing 

 a rick, he observed that his dogs devoured all the little red 

 mice (Mus messorius) that they could catch, but rejected 

 the common mice; and that his cats ate the common mice, 

 refusing the red." * A very interesting paper might be writ- 

 ten on the predilections and antipathies of animals, as regards 

 particular food. There is not one of our small insect-eating 

 birds that will feed on the common magpie moth (Abraxas 

 grossulariata), either in its larva or perfect state, which, there 

 can be little doubt, is the chief reason of its extreme abun- 

 dance. Few birds are more thoroughly omnivorous than the 

 white stork ; yet Willughby informs us, that one taken in 

 Norfolk, and kept alive for some time, rejected toads. 



Oct. 9. 1837. 



Art. III. On the alleged Transformation of Avena sativa into 

 Secale cereale. By W. Weissenborn, Ph. D. 



About fifteen years ago, there was announced an observ- 

 ation, as having been made in Sweden, which, at first sight, 

 would strike every one as a palpable mistake, as to the cause 

 to which an accidental effect had been ascribed ; viz. that, when 

 oats are sown about St. John's Day, and clipped a few times in 

 the course of the warm season, so as to prevent them from 

 forming stalks, and to enable them to live through the winter, 

 they will, if allowed to grow during the second spring and 

 summer, yield a thin crop of rye. 



Athough the communication was considered by many as a 

 mere hoax, and by others as a fact the conclusiveness of which 

 it was not worth while to verify, on account of its evident fu- 

 tility, yet some persons have had the curiosity to bring it to the 

 test of experiment; and, for several years subsequent to the 

 original announcement, we have read articles emanating from 

 the pens of farmers, confirming the observation, but attract- 

 ing only the notice of the credulous, or giving rise, here and 



in the same manner as the pointer above-mentioned. It was an animal of 

 a very fine breed, insomuch that, on its being entrapped, an eminent 

 sportsman deemed it desirable to obtain from her a litter of puppies. She 

 was accordingly chained to a kennel, but always continued savage, even 

 to her feeder, and while her puppies were still very young, she managed 

 to escape to the woods, and never returned. The progeny, five in num- 

 ber, were accordingly brought up by hand, and three of them grew to be 

 excellent hounds ; but the other two inherited the wild character of their 

 dam, and, notwithstanding every attention, contrived finally to escape, 

 and were afterwards shot, as was also their dam, for their destructive 

 poaching propensities. 



* Letter xl., to T. Pennant, Esq. 



