210 LIFE AND HABIT. 



flight." So the colts from wild horses, and mongrel 

 young between wild and domesticated horses, betray 

 traces of their earlier memories. 



On this M. Eibot says : " Originally man had con- 

 siderable trouble in taming the animals which are now 

 domesticated ; and his work would have been in vain 

 had not heredity " (memory) " come to his aid. It may 

 be said that after man has modified a wild animal to his 

 will, there goes on in its progeny a silent conflict be- 

 tween two heredities " (memories), " the one tending to 

 fix the acquired modifications and the other to preserve 

 the primitive instincts. The latter often get the mas- 

 tery, and only after several generations is training sure 

 of victory. But we may see that in either case here- 

 dity " (memory) " always asserts its rights." 



How marvellously is the above passage elucidated 

 and made to fit in with the results of our recognised 

 experience, by the simple substitution of the word 

 " memory " for " heredity." 



"Among the higher animals" — to continue quoting 

 — " which are possessed not only of instinct, but also of 

 intelligence, nothing is more common than to see mental 

 dispositions, which have evidently been acquired, so 

 fixed by heredity, that they are confounded with instinct, 

 so spontaneous and automatic do they become. Young 

 pointers have been known to point the first time they 

 were taken out, sometimes even better than dogs that 

 had been for a long time in training. The habit of 

 saving life is hereditary in breeds that have been 

 brought up to it, as is also the shepherd dog's habit of 

 moving around the flock and guarding it." 



