CONCLUSION. 



2'6 



the keeper should be his guide, and he should never give too many 

 vegetables. I give none to mine. 



"Another danger, and that a serious one, is the intrusion of wild 

 mice into the cages of the tame ones. The rapidity with which a 

 hole is bored through, and the whole brood spoilt by their parentage 

 being rendered as doubtful as that of the modern Greeks, can 

 scarcely be imagined. 



" It has been proposed to cover up the front of the cages with glass, 

 but it is better to attack the wild mice in their own homes than to 

 attempt to make the ventilation of the tame mice cages more close 

 than it really is. Besides, it is the woodwork near the corners of the 

 cages which is the point of attack of the wild mice, and this is left 

 unprotected if glass is put only in front of the cages. A discreet cat 

 will not disturb the cages of the tame mice, and the smell of her 

 will drive away many of the wild mice. Of course, the amount of 

 confidence which can be placed in a cat is very small, but if the 

 cages are properly fastened together, the cat will in time learn to 

 acquire the civilised and moral instinct of never attempting to steal 

 what she cannot get at. 



"If any of these remarks help on other breeders to acquire some 

 notion of the philosophy of hybrids, my task will have been fulfilled. 

 If we remember that mice are both prolific and cheap, we may also 

 realise the fact that specific variation in the mice may, if we only 

 devote sufficient attention to it, be as wide of the character of the old 

 parent stock as in the pigeon or rabbit ; and, unlike these species, we 

 may be certain that we have the real old original ancestor before us, 

 existing in numbers in an undoubtedly pure race." 



Dr. C. Carter Blake has rather doubted the correctness of some of 

 our results, as described in the first edition of this book. Suftice it to 

 say that we gave the results of a long and large practice in breeding, 

 and from a breeder's point of view, since we never troubled our heads 

 with science when mice were our particular hobby. As, however. 

 Dr. Carter Blake may be right so far as regards the crossing of 

 Mas sylvaticus with the tame ones of which we spoke in the 

 first edition, and as we may not have paid sufficient attention 

 to the matter for the reason stated above, we withdraw the state- 

 ment ; but should on any occasion a chance occur to again try the 

 experiment, we shall try it in such a manner as to give certain 

 results. As to the results of one cross only, Dr. Carter Blake would 

 do well to recollect that you cannot get mice from any which have 

 not been crossed in a recent generation ; but so far as colour 

 is concerned, if an albino is a monstrosity, why should not all 

 the young produced be of the original colour, i.e., the colour of the 

 wild species ? From a practical point of view, we may as well cast 

 doubt on a strain of fowls, for why should not speckled Hamburghs 

 produce the same variations as to colour, and run back to the original 

 colour of the wild original of our domestic fowls, as keep to their 

 present colour ? I would also ask if wild sheep have wool of the 

 colour and texture of our domesticated varieties, and if red and 



