DOMESTICATION. 237 



case with true instincts, he often profits by tliese aids. More- 

 over, each breed of dogs delights in following his inborn 

 propensity. 



" The most important distinction between pointing, &c., 

 and a true instinct, is that the former is less strictly inherited, 

 and varies greatly in the degree of its inborn perfection : 

 this, however, is just what one might have expected ; for 

 both mental and corporeal characters are less true in domestic 

 animals than in those in a state of nature, inasmuch as their 

 conditions of life are less constant and man's selection and 

 training far less uniform, and have been continued for an 

 incomparably shorter period, than is the case in nature's pro- 

 ductions." 



Although the familiar fact of young pointers pointing 

 instinctively does not need further corroboration, I shall quote 

 a brief passage from the paper of Mr. Andrew Knight on 

 " Hereditary Instincts,"* because it shows, as in the case of 

 " backing," to what extreme nicety of detail the hereditary 

 knowledge may in some cases extend. 



" It is well known that very young pointers, of slow and 

 indolent breeds, will point partridges without any previous 

 instruction or practice. I took one of them to a spot where 

 I had just seen a covey of small partridges alight in August, 

 and amongst them I threw a piece of bread to induce tlie dog 

 to move from my heels, which it had very little disposition 

 to do at any time, except in search of something to eat. On 

 getting among the partridges, and perceiving the scent of 

 them, its eyes became suddenly fixed, and its muscles rigid, 

 and it stood trembling with anxiety for several minutes. I 

 then caused the birds to take wing, at sight of which it 

 exhibited strong symptoms of fear and none of pleasure. A 

 young Springing Spaniel, under the same circumstances, 

 would have displayed much joy and exultation, and I do not 

 doubt but that the young pointer would have done so too, if 

 none of its ancestry had ever been beaten for springing 

 partridges improperly." 



From this same paper I must quote the following and 

 more or less analogous cases : — 



" A young Terrier whose parents had been much employed 

 in destroying Polecats, and a young Springing Spaniel whose 



* rhil. Trans., 1S37, p. 3G7. 



