ON INSTINC'l'. 
4L7 
sheep, of horses, of dogs, of poultry, and of all other animals 
reared as food, or for any domesticated purpose, have sprung 
from a few wild and unattractive species, and have been made 
what they are, in a great degree, by the intervention of man. 
Nor have the transformations which he has produced among ani¬ 
mals been less wonderful than those among vegetables. By his 
superior intelligence, the sour and forbidding crab has been trans¬ 
formed into the rich and grateful pippin, the harsh and astringent 
sloe of the woods into the delicious plum, and the coarse and bitter 
sea-side brassica into the nutritious and grateful cauliflower. 
Now, it is undoubtedly true that the various habits and quali¬ 
ties which the different breeds possess are acquired and have 
been transmitted to their offspring. The dogs that have been 
discovered from time to time in a wild state have been described 
as cowardly mischievous animals. What a difference, then, do 
vve perceive in their character from the determined perse¬ 
verance in battle, the contempt of pain, danger, and death, that 
characterize the English bull-dog! Here, again, w'e have a 
striking instance of the change of qualities, habits, or instincts, 
by the change of wganization. Temperature, quality of food, 
and the kind of danger to which an animal is exposed, will pro¬ 
duce a wonderful alteration in organization; and thus new in¬ 
stincts become developed, and probably, in the course of two or 
three generations, they become hereditary. 
Extraordinary instances of the power of instinctive hereditary 
propensities are frequently observed in a breed called Retrievers. 
M agendie, hearing that there was a race of dogs in England 
which stopped and brought back game of their own accord, pro¬ 
cured a pair; and, having obtained a whelp from them, kept it 
constantly under his eyes, until he had an opportunity of assur¬ 
ing himself that, without having received any instruction, on the 
very first day that it was carried to the chase, it brought back 
game with as much steadiness as dogs that had been schooled 
into the same manoeuvre. 
Both the male and female appear to possess similar powers ol‘ 
transferring to their offspring their hereditary feelings and ]>ro- 
pensities. Sometimes those of the male, and, at other times, 
those of the female parent predominate’**'. A very young dog, 
* “ Pliilosophic Transactions,” Mr. Knight.—This gentleman has lately 
favoured us with a })aper on the subject, in the Transactions of the Royal 
Society, shewing how the acquired instincts of the springing spaniel and 
retrievers have become hereditary. Mr. Knight havS given us nothing new : 
had he consulted Mr. Blaine’s work on Hogs, who may he regarded as the 
father of canine medicine, he would have found that this subject formed a 
