1902 



Telegony in Dogs 



6i 



quite new departures — i.e., due to variation in a direc- 

 tion new to the breed. It may very well happen that 

 reversion to a remote ancestor may result in characters 

 extremely suggestive of a previous mate, and that a pre- 

 vious mate belonging to a different strain may be more 

 or less accurately mimicked by perfectly new departures. 

 It hence follows that to be in a position to come to a 

 conclusion as to any given variation one must have a very 

 thorough knowledge of the remote as well as of the recent 

 ancestors. 



This is exactly the kind of knowledge all but unattain- 

 able in the case of any of our domestic animals, yet 

 breeders and fanciers seldom hesitate to explain the varia- 

 tions they from time to time notice : in m.any cases, on 

 very slender evidence, they rush to the conclusion that 

 the differences in colour, make, &c., can only be ac- 

 counted for by the doctrine of infection, 



I doubt if there is any group in which it is more diffi- 

 cult to account for the variations so frequently met with 

 than in the one under consideration. This is partly due 

 to the fact that our dogs have in all probability had a 

 multiple origin, — have sprung from several perfectly dis- 

 tinct wild varieties or species, — and partly to the fact that 

 for centuries intercrossing has been, for one reason or 

 another, repeatedly resorted to, or effected without the 

 knowledge of the breeder. As it will be at once admitted 

 that but few, if any, breeds can boast of centuries of un- 

 sullied pedigree, I need only refer here to the multiple 

 origin of our dogs. 



There is no evidence that dogs were used before Neolithic 

 times. A few months ago a remarkable series of engravings 

 were discovered in the cave of Combarelles, in the vicinity of 

 Eyzies (Dordogne). These figures (undoubtedly engraved in 

 Palaeolithic times), which cover the two sides of a cave over 

 100 yards in length, include wonderfully accurate and artistic 

 outlines of horses, deer, and antelopes, and of the great hairy 

 mammoth, but not a single hint of either wolf or dog. One 

 of the drawings represents a galloping reindeer. Had there 

 been dogs in those days the artist would hardly have omitted 

 to represent a hound following in the reindeer's track. 



