LECTURE XIV. 



407 



horned slieep, whose descent from the Urus, the curved-horned 

 ox of the diluvium of Italy, the Mouflon, is, as we have seen, 

 undeniable ? Which are then the domestic animals entitled to 

 claim a place by the side of man ? None, certainly, but those 

 whose fossil relics have not yet been found in the diluvial 

 formations, or the older tertiary strata! Whilst thus every 

 day brings forth new discoveries, and makes known to us 

 another domestic animal, the origin of which we may trace to 

 species found in the wild or a fossil state, we are told to claim, 

 for the few domestic animals of whose origin we have no data, 

 an exceptional position, merely for the purpose of supporting a 

 by no means well founded tradition concerning the origin of 

 mankind. 



Nathusius, no doubt, tells us: '■'The solution of the question, 

 whether or not a domestic animal descends from a ^vild species 

 can be determined neither by observation nor by experiments, 

 as the discovery of the truth lies beyond the means of science" ! 

 We doubt whether this principle will be adopted by natural- 

 ists. If, as regards the domestic animals and their cognate 

 wild species, constituting by far the most important subjects 

 of natural history, we are referred to faith instead of ob- 

 servation, all experimental science is at an end. 



But let us return to our starting point. The observations 

 on the transmission of characters, made by breeders, have not 

 yet reached such a stage that we can infer from them gene- 

 rally valid laws ; they have, nevertheless, yielded some definite 

 results. According to IsTathusius, the transmission of characters 

 in an artificially bred animal is independent of its origin " gene- 

 rically by the quahty of its characters— individually by the 

 proportion of these characters, in reciprocal action with the 

 condition of the vital organs and the energy of their functions ; 

 nay, some physiologically abnormal, or diseased organs and 

 their functions, may be the condition for the desired trans- 

 mission of characters (for the formation of fat, deformity of 

 legs in badger-dogs, {Basset, Buffbn) etc.) ." 



These principles being admitted, there can be no doubt, 

 that from this transmission of individual characters forms 

 may arise which are as distant from the primitive form, as other 



