Iviii GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 



well as by fanciers and breeders of horses, and each breed 

 may be said to have its own pi-ophets. 



Before, however, referring to a few of the articles that 

 hold a conspicuous place in the breeder's creed, it may be 

 well to ask the following question, viz. : Is the wild 

 parent prepotent over the domestic ? That the wild 

 parent impresses his or her characters on the offspring 

 more than the tame or domestic parent is the almost 

 universal belief. 



The following experiments bear on this question : — Six 

 white rabbit does (all of which had produced pure white 

 young to white bucks) were crossed with wild brown bucks. 

 The forty-two half-bred offspring were at birth of a 

 bluish-black colour (not flesh-coloured, as is the case with 

 young white rabbits), and they soon developed a complete 

 coat of brov^'n hair. Now that the survivors are half- 

 grown it is almost impossible to distinguish them from 

 a full-blooded wild rabbit living in the same enclosure. 

 The half-breeds are, however, not nearly so shy as the 

 wild one, and when carefully examined they are seen to 

 be slightly lighter in colour. Several have, as in many 

 leverets and young wild rabbits, a few white hairs along the 

 centre of the brow, while one has white tips to the toes of 

 the left fore-foot. In this case the wild parent evidently 

 prevails. 



It remains to be seen whether similar results will 

 follow when inbred does of various colours are used, and 

 when wild does are crossed with tame bucks. It is said 

 the white rat, when crossed with the brown, sometimes 

 throws black rats. If this is the case the explanation 

 may be that the white rat is an albino variety of the once 

 common black rat. Tame albino rabbits have doubtless 

 sprung from several breeds variously coloured. I thought 

 some of my half-bred young would revert towards their 

 coloured ancestors, but this, as we have seen, was not the 

 case. 



Similar results have been obtained by crossing the 

 ordinary turtle-dove with the white Java variety. The 

 offspring of a male turtle-dove and a white Java hen 



