EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PERIODICALS. 207 



He states that a young terrier,* whose parents had been trained to destroy 

 Fitchet Weasels (Polecats), and a young spaniel, whose ancestors had for genera- 

 tions been bred to seek Woodcocks, were brought up together as companions, and 

 that each, on seeing for the first time the prey towards which it was guided by 

 its hereditary instinct, pursued it with avidity, without noticing that which 

 attracted its companion. He further remarks, that young spaniels, wholly 

 destitute of experience, were almost as expert at Snipe-hunting as their parents, 

 trained with care to the sport. The Woodcocks themselves have, in the course 

 of the last sixty years, altered considerably in their habits. Their fear of Man 

 has become, during this period, much more powerful in transmission through 

 several successive generations. 



The author believes that, by the effect of education long persevered in, these 

 hereditary inclinations may be destroyed, and replaced by others. Thus spaniels 

 would never have acquired the art of hunting had not Man followed the sports of 

 fowling. A young Dog of the variety termed ckien d 'arret (setter), whose parents 

 had been trained to seek and fetch wounded game, performed the same office as 

 well as the best-bred Dog, although it had received no instructions. It would 

 seem that the influence of the father and of the mother, in the transmission of 

 these hereditary inclinations, is the same, except in the case of hybrids, in which 

 the author believes the influence of the male to be decidedly predominant.-— 

 Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve, Aout, 1837. — £It is a well-ascertained fact, 

 that strongly-marked peculiarities — whether mental or corporeal — are transmitted 

 from parent to offspring, both in Man and in the lower animals. Thus in the 

 cases alluded to by Mr. Knight, it will not appear surprising that the faculties 

 which had been so continually exercised in terriers and spaniels should be more 

 than ordinarily developed in the descendents of those individual animals. — 

 Ed. Nat.] 



BOTANY. 



2. Comparative Estimate of the meteorological Circumsta .ices under 

 which Corn, Maize, and Potatos grow at the Equator and under tht Tempe- 

 rate Zone. — In comparing the results which he has collected, M. Boussingault 

 arrives at this conclusion : — The number of days which separate the commence- 

 ment of the growth of an annual plant from its ripening, is, in every climate, in 



* We may here seize the opportunity of replying to the question proposed to us, why we com- 

 mence the English names of only some animals with capital letters ? Our rule is as follows : — 1. 

 The names of all species and genera commence with capitals; 2. those ox varieties, as terrier, 

 spaniel, &c, are not so distinguished, being of inferior value ; 3. The lame applies to the indica- 

 tion of sex, as bull, ewe, drake, gander, &c. ; 4. Also to the indication of age, as calf, lamb, foal, 

 Be «-?. — F,t>. 



