364 ON THE HEREDITARY INSTINCTIVE PROPENSITIES OP ANIMALS. 



families of dogs of different permanent habits, the hereditary propensities 

 of the offspring .have been very irregular, sometimes those of the male 

 and at other times those of the female parent being prevalent ; and in one 

 instance I saw a very young dog, a mixture of the springing spaniel and 

 setter, which dropped upon crossing the track of a partridge, as its male 

 parent would have done, and sprang the bird in silence ; but the same 

 dog having within a couple of hours afterwards found a woodcock, gave 

 tongue very freely, and just as its female parent would have done. Such 

 cross-bred animals are, however, usually worthless ; and the experiments 

 and observations which I have made upon them have not been very 

 numerous or interesting. 



