66 INHERITANCE. ClUp ^ 



for exportation. 6 Godine has given a curious case of a ram of a o- oa t lit 

 breed of sheep from the Cape of Good Hope, which produced offspring 

 hardly to be distinguished from himself, when crossed with ewes of 

 twelve other breeds. But two of these half-bred ewes, when put t 

 a merino ram, produced lambs closely resembling the' merino breed° 

 Girou de Buzareingues 7 found that of two races of French sheep the ew 

 of one, when crossed during successive generations with merino ram? 

 yielded up their character far sooner than the ewes of the other race' 

 Sturm and Girou have given analogous cases with other breeds of sheep 

 and with cattle, the prepotency running in these cases through the male 

 side ; but I was assured on good authority in South America, that when 

 niata cattle are crossed with common cattle, though the niata breed is pre- 

 potent whether males or females are used, yet that the prepotency is 

 strongest through the female line. The Manx cat is tailless and has lono- 

 hind legs ; Dr. Wilson crossed a male Manx with common cats, and out 

 of twenty-three kittens, seventeen were destitute of tails ; but when the 

 female Manx was crossed by common male cats all the kittens had tails 

 though they were generally short and imperfect. 8 



In making reciprocal crosses between pouter and fantail pigeons, the 

 pouter-race seemed to be prepotent through both sexes over the fantail. 

 But this is probably due to weak power in the fantail rather than to any 

 unusually strong power in the pouter, for I have observed that barbs also 

 preponderated over fantails. This weakness of transmission in the fantail, 

 though the breed is an ancient one, is said 9 to be general ; but I have 

 observed one exception to the rule, namely, in a cross between a fantail 

 and laugher. The most curious instance known to me of weak power in 

 both sexes is in the trumpeter pigeon. This breed has been well known for 

 at least 130 years : it breeds perfectly true, as I have been assured by those 

 who have long kept many birds : it is characterised by a peculiar tuft of 

 feathers over the beak, by a crest on the head, by a most peculiar coo 

 quite unlike that of any other breed, and by much-feathered feet. I have 

 crossed both sexes with turbits of two sub-breeds, with almond tumblers, 

 spots, and runts, and reared many mongrels and recrossed them ; and though 

 the crest on the head and feathered feet were inherited (as is generally 

 the case with most breeds), I have never seen a vestige of the tuft over 

 the beak or heard the peculiar coo. Boitard and Corbie 10 assert that this 

 is the invariable result of crossing trumpeters with any other breed: 

 Neumeister, 11 however, states that in Germany mongrels have been obtained, 

 though very rarely, which were furnished with the tuft and would trumpet : 

 but a pair of these mongrels with a tuft, which I imported, never trumpeted. 

 Mr. Brent states 12 that the crossed offspring of a trumpeter were crossed 



6 Quoted by Brorm, ■ Geschichte der 8 Mr. Orton, l Physiology of Breecl- 

 Natur/ b. ii. s. 170. See Sturm, ing/ 1855, p. 9. 



'Ueber Kacen,' 1825, s. 104-107. For 9 Boitard and Corbie, 'Les Pigeons/ 



the niata cattle, see my ' Journal of 1824, p. 224. 



Researches/ 1845, p. 146.* w < Les Pigeons/ pp. 168, 198. 



7 Lucas, ' l'H&edite Nat./ torn. ii. p. " < Das Gauze/ &c, 1837, s. 39. 





112. 



12 ' The Pigeon Book,' p. 46. 



