6o The Field Naturalist' s Quarterly Feb. 



decidedly from the haphazard methods of former genera- 

 tions, it is also true that many of our beliefs are still 

 reminiscent of the middle ages. This becomes especially 

 evident when the views commonly held in regard to vital 

 phenomena are taken into consideration. 



We, as a rule, still cling to the doctrine of " the trans- 

 mission of acquired characters " ; like the patriarchs of old, 

 we think the offspring are liable to be definitely influenced 

 by " maternal impressions." Breeders commonly assume 

 that certain characters are contributed by the male parent, 

 while others are as certainly inherited from the female ; 

 and physicians as well as breeders are still largely preju- 

 diced in favour of the doctrine of " infection," the "throw- 

 ing back " to a previous mate of the dam. About the 

 doctrine of " infection," or telegony, I propose to say 

 something in this paper. As the subject is a large one, 

 I shall deal only with the question. Does "throwing 

 back " to a previous mate occur amongst dogs ? 



There is hardly any one interested in dogs who has not 

 heard again and again of pups far more closely resembling 

 a former mate of the dam — a mate, perchance, of a differ- 

 ent breed — than their actual parents, and many fanciers 

 firmly believe that this resemblance is due to the dam having 

 been, in some mysterious way, more or less permanently 

 influenced — " corrupted " — by a previous and generally un- 

 sought-for alliance. Moreover, many fanciers believe that 

 this throwing back, instead of being a rare occurrence, is 

 comparatively common. 



Theoretically the offspring should, in their characters, 

 be about intermediate between their parents and their 

 remote ancestors. This, however, is seldom the case, 

 more especially when the parents are unrelated or mem- 

 bers of two perfectly distinct breeds. In other words, 

 even in pure-breed stock there is often evidence of varia- 

 tion. Whenever the offspring obviously differ from the 

 immediate parents, the breeder naturally endeavours to 

 account for the difference — whether it be in form, colour, 

 or disposition. Such differences, as recent experiments 

 clearly prove, may be, amongst other things, due to 

 throwing back to a more or less remote ancestor, or be 



