768 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 489. 



turn out to be more fertile than other sheep 

 and have a larger proportion of twins. 



1. In regard to the first point mentioned no 

 difficulty was experienced in developing the 

 embryonic nipples into real functional maminse 

 yielding millc; and for several years past the 

 ewes born on Beinn Bhreagh (with extremely 

 few exceptions) have possessed four functional 

 nipples. 



Of recent years lambs possessing five and 

 six nipples have appeared, and it is obvious 

 that continued selective breeding would iilti- 

 mately resiilt in the production of a sis-nippled 

 variety of sheep. 



How far the number of functional mammae 

 could be increased by selection it is of course 

 impossible to predict; but it is worthy of note 

 that one ewe has been born with four nipples 

 on one side of the body and two on the other; 

 and, as the supernumerary nipples have a 

 tendency to appear in pairs, this probably fore- 

 shadows the possibility of an eight-nippled 

 variety. 



2. In regard to the second point mentioned 

 the multi-nippled sheep have not proved to be 

 more fertile than normally nippled sheep ; and 

 the proportion of twins born has been quite 

 small. 



One peculiarity, however, is worthy of no- 

 tice : The twin lambs, though usually smaller 

 at birth than single lambs, speedily come up 

 to the average of the flock in this respect — so 

 that by autumn there is no substantial differ- 

 ence in weight between the single and twin 

 lambs. The multi-nippled sheep are, there- 

 fore, able to rear twins more successfully than 

 normally nippled sheep. 



This is an important point, and it suggests 

 the advisability of attempting now — by the 

 elimination of single lambs and the retention 

 of twins for breeding purposes — to produce 

 a twin-bearing stock. 



At present the Beinn Bhreagh flock consti- 

 tutes simply a scientific curiosity, and is of 

 little practical value to the country. I propose 

 to make it of value by engrafting upon it the 

 twin-bearing tendency. In Nova Scotia the 

 winters unfortunately are long, and the cost 

 of winter feeding proportionally great, but the 

 country is otherwise admirably adapted for 



sheep-raising upon a large scale. The pro- 

 duction of a twin-bearing stock would do much 

 to promote this important industry by enabling 

 the farmers to make a double profit upon 

 lambs without additional cost. 



The proposed experiments, however, can not 

 be made with a small flock, and the natural 

 increase of the Beinn Bhreagh flock is so slow 

 that many years would elapse before it would 

 be practicable to carry out the plans proposed. 

 I have sought to increase the size of the flock 

 by the purchase of multi-nippled sheep from 

 surrounding farms, but an examination of sev- 

 eral thousand sheep has convinced me that it 

 is no longer possible to purchase sheep having 

 the characteristics of the Beinn Bhreagh flock 

 to a useful degree. I, therefore, propose to 

 purchase large numbers of ordinary two- 

 nippled ewes and mate them with Beinn 

 Bhreagh rams — segregating the present flock 

 as much as possible. The multi-nippled lambs 

 born to the normally nippled ewes will enable 

 us to increase the size of the multi-nippled 

 flock beyond its natural increase — and be 

 otherwise beneficial by the introduction of 

 new blood; but the new blood will probably be 

 detrimental to the particular line of selection 

 hitherto piirsued and lead to a reduction in 

 the percentage of multi-nippled offspring in 

 that flock. 



The present, therefore, seems to be a fitting 

 time to place in the hands of those interested 

 in evolutionary problems, a detailed account 

 of the flock; and I have prepared for private 

 circulation two pamphlets, one entitled 

 ' Multi-Nippled Sheep of Beinn Bhreagh, Liv- 

 ing 1903, and Their Known Ancestors,' the 

 other ' Sheep Catalogue of Beinn Bhreagh, 

 Showing the Origin of the Multi-Nippled 

 Sheep of Beinn Bhreagh and Giving all the 

 Descendants Down to 1903.' I have great 

 pleasure in presenting the first copies of these 

 pamphlets to members of the academy 

 specially interested in the subject. 



Alexander Graham Bell. 



BOTANICAL NOTES. 



POPULAR HELPS IN THE STUDY OF THE FUNGI. 



It is particularly gratifying to notice the 

 efforts that Professor Kellerman, of the Ohio 



