THE POULTRY-YARD. 285 



and independent little creature than a tame 

 duckling. Such differences between the newly- 

 born members of a species are at first rather 

 difficult to account for if we adopt Weismann's 

 doctrine of the non-inheritance of acquired char- 

 acters. I am inclined to think that the difference 

 is not so much a matter of heredity as it at first 

 sight appears. Many newly -born animals can 

 be shown to be extraordinarily impressionable to 

 outside influence almost from the first moment of 

 independent existence. One might compare the 

 vacant brains of such creatures, instantly absorb- 

 ing impressions from the outside world, to an 

 empty sponge plunged in a basin of water. The 

 apparent lethargy of the infantile mind is de- 

 ceptive. How quickly impressions are received 

 during the first hour of life, and how profound 

 is their influence upon the character, is seen 

 in the case of the young calf Most of our 

 domestic cattle, if their calves are born out in 

 an open pasture, will obey the ancient instinct 

 which led the wild cow at once to hide her 

 feeble offspring in the bushes. Now, if a calf 

 be once hidden in this way, it becomes prac- 

 tically a wild animal with an instinctive terror 

 of man ; whereas if it has been born under 



