390. 



NA TV RE 



[August 24, 1893 



children under your notice. Suffice it to say that in every 

 instance I can and do constantly trace what others might 

 term coincidences, but which to me appear nothing but cause 

 and effect in their several developments. 



"I will pass on to quote a few passages from letters written to 

 me by two highly intelligent mothers, whom I asked to give me 

 their experiences on this subject, if they had any. 



" Mrs. B says : ' I can trace, nay, have traced (in secret 



amusement often), something in every child of mine. Before 

 the birth of my eldest girl I took to ornithology, for work and 

 amusement, and did a great deal in taxidermy too. At the 

 age of three years I find this youngster taking such insects and 

 little animals as she could find, and puzzling me with hard 

 questions as to what was inside them. Later on she used to 

 be seen with a snail knife, working and dissecting cleverly 

 and with much care and skill at their insides. One day she 

 brought me the tiniest heart of the tiniest lizard you could 

 imagine, so small that I had to examine it through a glass, 

 I hough she saw it without any artificial aid. By some means 

 she got a young wallaby and made an apron with a pocket 

 inside which she used to call her "pouch." This study of 

 natural history is still of interest to her, though she lacks time 

 and opportunities. Still, she always does a little dissecting 

 when she gets a chance.' 



"I never noticed anything about P ■ for some years. 



Three months before he was born a friend, whom I will call 

 Smith, was badly hurt, and was brought to my house to be 

 nursed. I turned out the nursery and he lay there for three 

 months. I nursed him until I could do so no longer, and then 

 took lodgings in tovn for my confinement. Now after all 

 these years I have discovered how this surgical nursing has 

 left its mark. This boy is in his element when he can be of 

 use in cases of accident, &c. He said to me quite lately, 

 ' How I wish you had made a surgeon of me.' Then all at 

 once the light fl.\shed in upon me, but, alas ! it was too late to 

 remedy the mistake. 



" Before the birth of the third child I passed ten of the 

 happiest months of my life. We had a nice house, one side of 

 which was covered with cloth of gold roses and bougainvillea, a 

 garden with plenty of flowers, and a vineyard. Here we led 

 an idyllic life, and did nothing but fish, catch butterflies, and 

 print them. At least, my husband painted them after I had 

 caught them and mixed his colours. At the end of this time 



L was born. This child excels in artistic talent of many 



kinds, nothing comes amiss to her, and she draws remarkably 

 well. She is of a bright, gay disposition, finding much happi- 

 ness in life, even though not always placed in the most fortunate 



surroundings. Before the birth of my next child, N , a 



daughter, I had a bad time. My husband fell ill of fever, and 

 I had to nurse him without help or assistance of any kind. We 

 had also losses by floods. I don't know how I got through that 



year, but I had no time for reading. N is the most prudent, 



economical girl I know. She is a splendid housekeeper and a 

 good cook, and will work till she drops, but has no taste for 

 reading, but seems to gain knowledge by suction." 



I£ the preceding cases are fully and accurately stated they 

 seem to afford grounds for further investigation. Changes in 

 mode of life and in intellectual occupation are so frequent 

 among all classes, that materials must exist for determining 

 whether such changes during the prenatal period have any in- 

 flaence on the character of the offspring. The present com- 

 munication may perhaps induce ladies who have undergone 

 such changes, and who have large families, to state whether 

 they can trace any corresponding effect on the character of their 

 children. Alfred R. Wallace. 



Habits of South African Animals. 



The following extracts from a letter just received from Mr. 

 R. R. Mortimer, of Hanover Road, Cape Colony, contain some 

 observations which will, I think, be of interest to naturalists, 

 and therefore worth recording in the pages of Nature. 



Alfred R. Wallace. 



" Since reading ' Darwinism,' powers of observation have 

 unconsciously been gained by me. Day by day nature has some 

 phenomena quite new to me, which phenomena would probably 

 never have been observed by me if I had not had the good for- 

 tune to have digested the principles of the Darwinian Theory 

 so obviously explained by you. From the time of reading the 



book till now I have observed peculiarities of organic beings in , 

 this part of the world. These observances I will relate : (i) ; 

 The first observation I particularly remember was in regard to 

 a peculiar action of a small bird, indefinitely termed by Colonials, . 

 snipe. What their specific or proper name is I cannot say^ 

 since the title of naturalist is not claimed by me. These snipe 

 in question, or individuals of the variety, made their nests on 

 mounds of dung which were practically the accumulated refuse 

 of old sheep kraals. The shape of the nest was simply a 

 hole scooped out on top of a mound. The colour of the refuse 

 was a variegated dark brown and black. The eggs of such 

 birds fully corresponded in colouration with the environment 

 or surroundings. As a means of concealment, the colouration 

 of the eggs was perfect. It required an extreme amount o< 

 careful inspection and search to detect the eggs in a nest on 

 such mounds. When you came across the nest, you would find 

 it was perfectly open and uncovered by any material ; therefore 

 you wciuld presume the owners of the nest distinctly relied upon 

 the colouration of their eggs to defy detection. But if by chance 

 you detected a nest, and the owners were present, by holding ] 

 yourself perfectly immovable and stationary, one bird would 

 immediately approach its nest, and gradually cover it l>y scoop- I 

 ing dust over the eggs with the action of its feet. 



" This recourse to hiding its nest from view is only adapted 

 on extreme occasions, when their sense-action gives them the 

 knowledge that the enemy present has perceived its contents, or 

 the nest itself. 



"There must be a double selective agency in this mode of 

 concealment at work. 



" As far as my knowledge goes, our so defined snipe gener- 

 ally frequent localities where water is present. Now the samt 

 variety in question do make their habitat on banks of rivers, or 

 where water is to be found ; yet here have I noticed indivi luals 

 of the same variety diverge from the specific character, take up 

 a new area, if even only temporarily, where their eggs can be 

 laid with more safety. It is an indisputable fact that the 

 colouration of the snipe eggs is in union and harmony with the 

 environment as a means of protection, yet here we fi.id indi- 

 viduals of the same variety possessing the last possible resort of 

 concealing its eggs — namely, covering them over wiLha nuiterial 

 so as to defy any minute detective powers. 



" Surely the struggle for existence must, in this ca^e, be 

 extremely severe, and the principle of natural selection in 

 full activity. 



" (2) Having had practical experience in farming with 

 ostriches, and their domestication, I may say a few words on 

 them. 



" Ostriches have, so to say, no means of indirectly concealing 

 their eggs ; but the only means of concealing their nest is by 

 their personal presence. The hen does her share of sitting in 

 the daytime, her drab-coloured plumage being in harmony with 

 the surroundings. The cock replaces her on the nest at evening 

 time, sitting throughout the night, and generally on to 8 a.m., 

 his black plumage corresponding with the shades of night ; j 

 therefore you have some difficulty, sometimes very great, in , 

 detecting the nest of an ostrich. 



" In addition to this remarkable adaptation of sexual caJour- 

 ation, the cock takes the lole of a guard patrolling up and down 

 some distance off the nest. When he perceives that mischief is 

 bent upon the eggs by the approach of a ])erson, he almost 

 invariably charges him, and, woe betide if the person is desti- 

 tute of some means of defence. To deliberately go up to a nest 

 in the presence of its lord without some weapon or mean; 

 of protection is considered by Colonials to be the height of 

 foolishness and ignorance. 



"But invariably again, on the other hand, when you have 

 succeeded so far in reaching the nest, and handling its eggs, 

 the cock quiets down. 



" He loses all his viciousness, falls down alongside the ncst, | 

 gives vent to, apparently, appeals for mercy, by continuously j 

 flapping his wings against the ground and giving forth sounds \ 

 by means of his beak, of a peculiar dull clicking character. ; 



" Domestication has made ostriches feel less fear for human 

 beings, at the same time giving a more vigorous character to 

 their viciousness. 



" Some two years ago, among a troop of ostriches that were \ 

 brought down to the farm where I was gaining my experience, j 

 there was one ostrich, a male bird in every respect in its external 

 character and colouration of plumage. It was to all possible 

 appearance a cock, and yet it had been seen on two occasions i 



NO. 1243, VOL. 48] 



