122 On the Direction of the 



What Button and other naturalists say of the manner in 

 which pigeons hatch, does not appear to me to be correct ; 

 for the female, according to observations pursued during a 

 great many years, sits from three o'clock in the afternoon 

 until half past ten next morning ; the male then relieves her, 

 and sits from that time until three in the afternoon. 



I can no longer admit the <rreat encomiums which Buffon 

 has bestowed upon the invariable fidelity of pigeons. Birds, 

 males as well as females, but the latter less frequently than 

 the former, seek for stolen pleasures even during the time 

 of hatching; at least, they certainly do not allow any such 

 occasions to escape when they occur. I have made this 

 observation an infinite number of times : however, I wil- 

 linglv grant that there is no couple in the habit of separating 

 formally, and for ever. 



I recollect a singular circumstance, in regard to this sub- 

 ject, which I witnessed in my own pigeon-house. Two of 

 my young females having found no male, and finding them- 

 selves, consequently, consumed with the most ardent desire 

 of pairing themselves, contracted for each other the most 

 tender friendship; chose a nest in common ; sought out for 

 some clandestine intrigues ; laid at length each their two 

 eggs; hatched them in common, and brought up their 

 young in the same manner as if they had been male and 

 female. 



XXI. On the Direction of the Radicle and Germen during 

 the Vegetation of Seeds. By Thomas Andrew Knight, 

 Esq. F. R. S. In a Letter to the Right Hon. Sir Joseph 

 Banks, K.B. P.R.S* 



MY DEAR SIR, 



At can scarcely have escaped the notice of the most inatten- 

 tive observer of vegetation, that in whatever position a seed 

 is placed to germinate, its radicle invariably makes an effort 

 to descend towards the centre of the earth, whilst the elon- 



* Troir. the Transactions of the Royal Sviiety for 1806. 



gated 



