INHERITANCE OF ACQUIRED CHARACTERS 177 



Among mammals the highly imaginative idea has been 

 suggested that the influence of the male on the female 

 (infection) may in turn be passed on to a later male mated 

 with the infected female. A highly successful breeder 

 of Shorthorn cattle in England pointed out to the author 

 a pure-bred white cow with red ears from a registered 

 sire and dam. This cow was marked like the wild white 

 cattle of Chillingham Park, and her owner ascribed her 

 markings to the fact that her dam had once dropped a 

 calf from a Chillingham bull. The cause of the peculiar 

 markings of the cow in this case could not have been 

 derived in the manner described. The case is cited here 

 only as an example of the highly improbable notion that 

 there is some relation between the phenomena of teleg- 

 ony and xenia. Xenia among mammals is unknown. 



164. Xenia among poultry. Many breeders of poultry 

 have believed that the eggs of the domestic fowl may be 

 influenced in size, form and color by the male bird. 

 Observations by Nathusius and later by Holdefleiss 1 

 gave evidence of paternal influence on the color of the 

 eggshell. Holdefleiss mated Plymouth Rock hens with 

 a Leghorn cock. The Plymouth Rock uniformly lays 

 brown eggs while the Leghorn lays a pure white egg. 

 The eggs deposited by the Plymouth Rock hens from this 

 mating varied in color from dark brown to white. The 

 evidence seemed so clear to the investigator that he was 

 led to conclude that " The color of eggshells shows the 

 influence of the paternal strain ; there is therefore evidence 

 of xenia." More recently Walther 2 of Giessen after a 

 series of careful experiments has reported results which 



1 Holdefleiss, " Berichte aus dem biologische Lab.," Univ. Halle, 

 1911. 



2 Walther, "Landwirthschaftliche Jahrbiicher," 1914. 



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