6 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



numbers, is believed now to be represented by one solitary 

 female in the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens. The University 

 of Aberdeen is attempting to solve some of the questions 

 of bird-migration by affixing numbered rings to the feet of 

 birds, nestlings and others, and will be pleased to hear from 

 any willing to help in the investigation of this little known 

 subject. A conference has been recently held on the subject 

 of seal fisheries and has laid down certain rules, including 

 the stoppage of pelagic seal fishing for 15 years, which, if 

 adhered to, will, it considers, give the seals a good chance of 

 again becoming numerous. Like the passenger pigeons, 

 they assemble in great numbers at certain spots, and are, 

 therefore, liable to indiscriminate slaughter. On July 1st 

 about 60 pilot whales, measuring up to 25 feet in length, were 

 stranded on the beach of Mounts Bay, Penzance. This is 

 a most rare occurrence so far south. The power of some 

 animals to exist for long periods without drinking has often 

 been stated, and it is found that black buck and some other 

 antelopes, as well as giraffes, are able to live for long periods 

 in situations where there is no water, some, at all events, 

 using as a substitute succulent plants. The question of the 

 possibility of the inheritance of acquired characters by animals 

 or plants is one which is being perpetually discussed and 

 on which much difference of opinion exists. It is well known 

 that the domestic cat has, generally speaking (though there 

 are some unfortunate exceptions), a wonderful power of 

 distinguishing between the domestic chicken and other 

 birds. This may sometimes be the result of teaching on the 

 part of the mother cat or in some cases the mother hen, 

 but we have frequently had stray kittens introduced to the 

 house at too young an age to have received such instruction, 

 which have, when old enough, to the best of our knowledge 

 never attempted to molest a chicken, though they will spring 

 on to a sparrow feeding in the midst of a brood. How can 

 this habit be caused except by inheritance, and, from its 

 nature, it must have been originally acquired and not 

 evolved. 



