838 The American Naturalist. [October, 
natural, should be considered. I believe the tailless Manx cats gener- 
ally come in that shape, and this I know is often the case with the 
bobtail sheep-dog of England, and this is stated of several breeds of 
dogs, generally of the type of the bobtail sheep-dog found in other 
countries, Norway, Southern Russia and elsewhere. 
But the peculiar feature of this inheritance is its freakishness. Two 
naturally long-tailed parents have produced a tailless dog, in whom the 
potency was so strong that no bitch, no matter what the breed was, 
ever produced a full, natural tailed puppy to him. I remember of one 
puppy by this dog, ex his double grandam (he was the son of litter 
brother and sister) whose tail was of usual length, but had a deformity 
in it as though it were tied in a knot. Again, it is not at all uncommon 
for a bitch to begin production with all naturally long-tailed puppies, 
and after some years, change to always producing some tailless ones, 
even when mated with mongrel dogs, while some bitches reverse the 
order, beginning with tailless ones and changing to full-tailed ones. I 
recently noted a reported instance of just such a change of production 
in a Manx cat, and it seems to me that this freakishness introduces a 
very disturbing element into consideration of the question of inheritance. 
s an allied matter, please permit me to say that the notion that if 
a bitch has a mongrel litter she will thereafter a/ways produce puppies 
showing traces of the unallied sire, is rank rubbish, and on the point 
that this occurrence is not invariable, any experienced breeder will 
concur, as very, very few such breeders have ever seen such a case. 
For myself, I have bred dogs for over forty years, have bred many 
mongrel litters, and never saw a case of telegony—or, as we commonly 
call it, “influence of previous sire.” That this influence does sometimes 
show itself, is beyond doubt; but some very extended inquiries of mine 
some years since, showed that it was shown only in about one per cent. 
of cases of mesaliances; and when it was considered that an instance 
of this “influence” will be remembered from its extraordinary charac- 
ter, while instances where it does not occur are forgotten, being the 
expected result, I believe that the one-tenth of one per cent. of cases 
will be found to be the extent of its occurrence. It is very strange that. 
those scientific men who uphold the idea of the invariable occurrence 
of this “influence,” all overlook the potent fact that the “influence” 
shows itself invariably only in the skin and hair, never affecting con- 
formation. In view of this, the theory propounded by Dr. Jonathan 
Hutchinson, President Royal College of Surgeons; Dr. J. Sidney 
Turner, President South British Medical Society, and Everett Millais, 
Esq., seems sound, and bears against the idea of the bitch being herself 
