VARIETIES OF TROUT. 75 



mals, whether horses, oxen, sheep, hogs, geese, 

 ducks, turkies, or pigeons ; and he will allow, 

 that certain characters gained by accidents, 

 either from peculiar food, air, water, or do- 

 mestic treatment, are transmitted to, and often 

 strengthened in, the next generation ; the qua- 

 lities being, as it were, doubled when belong- 

 ing to both parents, and retained in spite of 

 counteracting causes. It will be sufficient for 

 me to mention only a few cases. The blood- 

 horse of Arabia is become the favourite of the 

 north of Europe, and the colts possess all the 

 superior qualities of their parents, even in the 

 polar circle. The offspring of the Merino 

 sheep retain the fineness of their wool in Eng- 

 land and Saxony. Poultry, bantams, tumbling 

 and carrier pigeons, geese, ducks, turkies, &c., 

 all afford instances of the same kind ; and in 

 the goose and duck, not only is the colour 

 of the feathers changed, but the form of the 

 muscles of the legs and wings ; those of the 

 wings, being little employed, become weak and 

 slender ; those of the legs, on the contrary, being 

 much used, are strong and fleshy ; and it is 

 well to know this, as, in the young birds, the 



