466 



The Journal of Heredity 



CLOVEN HOOF OF PERCHERON 



This photograph shows two hoofs on the 

 front leg of a pure bred Percheron colt 

 born and raised at the Delchester 

 Farms, Edgemont, Pa. The sire of this 

 colt was Imp. Kaneton 98952 (97439) 

 and the dam w^as Lalouve 9898 1 (99 154) . 

 So far as I am aware, there is no abnor- 

 mality of the sort in the ancestry. 

 Although there have been several cases 

 of cloven-hoof or polydactylism in 

 horses, this meristic variation is rare. 

 The ancestors of the horse had as many 

 as five toes, but this case is not to be 

 looked on as a case of reversion, as is the 

 appearance of an extra toe in the guinea- 

 ])ig at the present day. It is rather a 

 type of polydactylism like that in man, 

 where a single finger splits to produce 

 two. This same type of polydactylism 

 by splitting of a single digit is even 

 more familiar in the house cat. In all 

 animals, polydactylism has j)roved to be 

 inherited in some degree, but in an 

 irregular way. I do not know of any 

 evidence to show htnv it Ijehaves in the 

 horse. Photograph bv C. W. McDon- 

 ald. (Fig. 9.) 



B. O. Severson, State College, Pa. 



A New Ancestor for the Goat 



It has fijcncrally been supposed that 

 all domesticated j^oats are descendants 

 of the Pasanj^ or Grecian Ibex (see the 

 Journal of Heredity. Vol. vi, pp. 

 519-525, November, 1915), but Pro- 

 fessor Adametz declares this idea is no 

 longer tenable. He has been examining 



the remains of a new species of goat 

 found in Galicia, to which he has given 

 the name of Capra prisca, and thinks 

 that this extinct species is the ancestor 

 of most of the modern breeds. It is 

 quite different from the Pasang. His 

 findings are published in the Mitieil- 

 uneen der landwirtschaftliches Lehrkan- 

 zeln der K. K. Hochschulefiir Bodenkul- 

 tur in Wien, Vol. iii, pp. 1-21, Vienna, 

 1915. _________ 



English Plans to Increase the Birth Rate 



That the English birth rate has 

 steadily declined during the last genera- 

 tion, and that the decline has been 

 greatest in the most valuable part of the 

 population, are conclusions of the Nb 

 tional Council of Public Morals, which 

 has published its extensive investigation 

 in a substantial volume (The Declining 

 Birth Rate. London, 1916). A sup- 

 plementary report outlines a number of 

 measures which it is believed might 

 help to secure a more adequate birth 

 rate, in quality as well as quantity. 



1. Minimum wage for workers. 



2. Bonuses for all children who reach 

 the age of fourteen, in families where the 

 income is less than $500 or $600 a yekr. 



3. Taxation of income of husband and 

 wife separately, w4th a substantial 

 exemption for each child, in the case of 

 all incomes under $3,000 or $3,500 a year. 



4. More free higher education. 



5. Better housing facilities. 



6. Development of means of national 

 subsistence — more intensified agricul- 

 ture, changes in land tenure, etc. 



7. A campaign to educate public opin- 

 ion to the need for more good children . 



8. Simpler living, which would tend to 

 make childbirth less i^ainful for women ; 

 and education of women to the fact that 

 with modern surgical technique child- 

 birth is by no means an intolerable ordeal . 



9. Public discussion of methods for 

 increasing the birth rate. 



10. Teaching fathers to bear a larger 

 part of the l)urden of parenthood, 

 instead of leaving the mother to take 

 all the responsibility for the children. 



11. Awakening teachers of religion 

 and morals to the fact that they are 

 remiss if they do not include eugenics in 

 their teaching. 



12. Reduction of infant mortality. 



