Jw— 



THE 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE, 



JUNE 1799- 



I. On the VoJJibirity of Cafual Midilatlons in the Bodies of 

 Animals hecoming in the Courfe of Time hereditary Marks 

 of iDyiin£lion. By Prof e for Blumenbach *. 



X HAT it is poflible for mutilations produced in the bodies 

 of animals, either by accident or by artificial means, efpeci- 

 ally when repeated through a whole feries of generations, 

 to degenerate in the courfe of time into hereditary marks of 

 diftinftion, feems a priori to be incontrovertible. At any 

 rate, I fliould be glad to fee the phyfiologifl" who can aflign 

 a reafon w-hy this fliould not be as pofTible as the tranfmiflion 

 of hereditary organic difeafes, or hereditary monflrofities f, 



or 



• From Magazinfur das Ncu/.flr aus der Phvfik. Vol* VJ, 

 f Of the numerous and partly well known inftances of this kind I ftiall 

 OjUote only a recent one, mentioned by M. Schulz in his Obfirvations on a 

 monflious canary bird, p. 17. "A Spanifh bitch," fays ht, '< which 

 had been in my poflTcffion for feveral years, was not only brought forth 

 without a tail, but at various times produced puppies fome of whom wcrt 

 deftitute of tails alfo. As often as this bitch brought forth more than one 

 puppy, cne of them perhaps was quite perfe6l j the greater part, however, 

 had half tails or tails ftill fljortcr, and one at leaft had no tail at all. The 

 nioft fingular thing was, that the young almoft always had a refcmblar.cf 

 Vol. IV. B „ 



