204 Transactions. — Zoology. 



have been the original foundation of most of the large herds 

 of oxen now inhabiting Tasmania. Various species of Bos 

 mav have originally been domesticated by primitive man, 

 obtained in lands wide apart, so far back as the Neolithic or 

 Polished Stone age. These different species have, no doubt, 

 in many cases been accidentally interbred one with the 

 other as man migrated from place to place, according to the 

 exigencies of the time in which they lived ; and so new 

 breeds of oxen were originated of whose origin we have now 

 no record. 



I consider that the laws of hybridism should be systemati- 

 cally studied, and that before long scientists will understand 

 that hybridism can be worked among kindred races of animals 

 on similar lines to those of hand fertilisation, now success- 

 fully carried out by the horticulturist among plants, but that 

 among animals the service of one female will require to be 

 transferred to a female of the kindred race. 



I may here mention my own experiment in endeavour- 

 ing to produce hybrids between the sheep and the Angora 

 buck goat by placing twelve ewes (all of which, excepting 

 one crossbred Lincoln-merino, were pure merino) in a well- 

 fenced paddock (field) with two twelve-month-old Angora 

 bucks. To insure their remaining with the sheep, one of the 

 young bucks was fastened by a dog-coupling chain and collars 

 to one of the strongest ewes, which caused his mate, the other 

 buck, to become accustomed to feed with the sheep, and there 

 appeared every chance of some hybrid offspring resulting ; but 

 when the season for lambing came round none of the ewes 

 dropped a lamb. Keeping these same animals together, and 

 adding to them twelve other ewes (making a total of twenty- 

 four), a similar trial was made during the following season, 

 and from the activity of the buck running free every expecta- 

 tion of a successful result was entertained ; but later on a 

 merino ram was turned into the paddock, and each ewe pro- 

 duced a late lamb from the merino ram. 



After several years' trial I raised fertile hybrids between 

 the common European domestic duck, which no doubt are 

 the result of domestication from the wild duck or mallard of 

 Europe (Anas boschos), and the male of the New Zealand grey- 

 duck (;4. superciliosa) . These 1 Have bred together (inter se) 

 for some fifteen years, and they still remain fertile. They 

 are intermediate in size between the two pure breeds, and so 

 far have shown no inclination to interbreed with the wild 

 grey-duck, though (as at the present time) there are usually 

 six to nine of the wild birds on the same small pond which 

 come and go at will. If the hybrid drakes were taken away I 

 have little doubt that some of the grey-drakes would mate with 

 the hybrid ducks. At the same time I feel assured that if 



