€hap. XVII. 
PREFEKEXCES IN PAIRING. 
273 
Hoffberg, in describing the domesticated reindeer of 
Lapland, says, Foemina majores et fortiores mares 
prae caeteris admittunt, ad eos confugiunt, a jnniori- 
bus agitatae, qui hos in fugam conjiciunt.” A clergy- 
man, who has bred many pigs, assures me that sows 
often reject one boar and immediately accept another. 
From these facts there can be no doubt that with 
most of our domesticated quadrupeds strong individual 
antipathies and preferences are frequently exhibited, 
and much more commonly by the female than by the 
male. This being the case, it is improbable that the 
unions of quadrupeds in a state of nature should be 
left to mere chance. It is much more probable that 
the females are allured or excited by particular males, 
who possess certain characters in a higher degree than 
other males ; but what these characters are, we can 
iseldom or never discover with certainty. 
‘ Amoenitates Acad.’ vol. iv. 1788, p. 160. 
VOL. II. 
T 
