CURIOUS FACTS OF INHERITANCE. 691 



produced a litter in which one of the young was one-eared, and this 

 was transmitted. Many of the most famous breeds of sheep and cat- 

 tle have arisen through the accidental appearance of some striking 

 peculiarity of structure, which has been preserved by careful selection 

 and breeding^ Thus the well-known Ancon or otter breed of sheep, 

 now extinct, arose in the last century in Massachusetts by the acci- 

 dental birth of a ram characterized by crooked legs and a long back 

 like a turnspit. These peculiarities rendered him unable to leap fences, 

 and as this was a point of great importance to the early settlers, this 

 ram was selected for breeding, and his abnormalities of structure were 

 faithfully transmitted. The breeds of Mauchamp sheep and Niata 

 cattle had a somewhat similar origin, Darwin relates how in a litter 

 of pointer pups one was observed to be of a blue color. This remark- 

 able circumstance led to inquiry, and it was found that, four genera- 

 tions earlier, there had been in the same breed a pointer bitch named 

 Sappho, celebrated for her blue color. We have here an instance of 

 one of the secondary laws of inheritance known as the law of Atavism 

 (from atavus, an ancestor). According to this law, any peculiarity, 

 instead of passing directly from parent to child, may skip one or more 

 generations, and reappear lower down in the line of descent. Of this 

 curious law innumerable instances occur. It is not uncommon for a 

 cliild to resemble bis grandparents much more closely than his father 

 or mother. This is frequently noted in the case of animals, where we 

 have the opportunity of observing several generations, and analogy 

 would lead us to expect a similar principle in the case of man. The 

 law of Atavism can only be explained by assuming that the qualities 

 which were patent in grandfather and grandchild were latent in the 

 intervening generation. There is nothing difficult or arbitrary in this 

 hypothesis, as multitudes of facts are on record to prove that physical 

 and intellectual peculiarities may remain dormant for long periods in 

 an individual, and suddenly develop into prominence under some un- 

 wonted pressure. Thus, privation or confinement in an unwholesome 

 atmosphere may develop a latent tendency to consumption, A severe 

 illness has been known to determine the onset of insanity, to which 

 the individual had a hereditary predisposition ; or to take more hope- 

 ful instances, a severe shock, such as bereavement or the sudden loss 

 of fortune, has been frequently known to bring out unexpected traits 

 of character, and to develop a resolution and a magnanimity, of which 

 the individual had previously exhibited no evidence. Our characters, 

 in addition to those prominent traits which attract general attention, 

 have a multitude of secret marks traced as it were in invisible ink, and 

 ready to spring into prominence on condition of the necessary stimu- 

 lus being applied. 



When we leave the domain of structural peculiarities and turn to 

 that of mind, habit, and instinct, we find an inexhaustible store of 

 curious facts of inheritance. Contrary to popular belief, there seems 



