crawl forward with a peculiar gait; and another kind of wolf rushing round, instead of at, a herd of deer, and driving them to a distant point, we should assuredly call these actions instinctive. Domestic instincts, as they may be called, are certainly far less fixed
or invariable or invariable 1859 1860 | or invariable 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
than natural instincts; but they have been acted on by far less rigorous selection, and have been transmitted for an incomparably shorter period, under less fixed conditions of life. |
How strongly these domestic instincts, habits, and
dis- dis- 1859 | dis- 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
positions positions 1859 | dispositions 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
are inherited, and how curiously they become mingled, is well shown when different breeds of dogs are crossed. Thus it is known that a cross with a bull-dog has affected for many generations the courage and obstinacy of greyhounds; and a cross with a greyhound has given to a whole family of shepherd-dogs a tendency to hunt hares. These domestic instincts, when thus tested by crossing, resemble natural instincts, which in a like manner become curiously blended together,
and for a long period exhibit traces of the instincts of either parent: for example, Le Roy describes a dog, whose great-grandfather was a wolf, and this dog showed a trace of its wild parentage only in one way, by not coming in a straight line to his
master master 1859 1860 1861 1866 | master, 1869 1872 |
when called. |
Domestic instincts are sometimes spoken of as actions which have become inherited solely from long-continued and compulsory
habit, habit, 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 | habit; 1872 |
but
this, this, 1859 1860 | this 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
I think, I think, 1859 1860 | I think, 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
is not true. No one would ever have thought of teaching, or probably could have taught, the tumbler-pigeon to tumble,— an action which, as I have witnessed, is performed by young birds, that have never seen a pigeon tumble. We may believe that some one pigeon showed a slight tendency to this strange habit, and that the long-continued selection of the best individuals in successive generations made tumblers what they now are; and near Glasgow there are house-tumblers, as I hear from Mr. Brent, which cannot fly eighteen inches high without going head over heels. It may be doubted whether any one would have thought of training a dog to point, had not some one dog naturally shown a tendency in this line; and this is known occasionally to happen, as I once
saw saw 1859 1860 | saw, 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
in a pure
terrier. terrier. 1859 |
terrier: the act of pointing is probably, as many have thought, only the exaggerated pause of an animal preparing to spring on its prey. 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
When the first tendency
was was 1859 |
to point was 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
once displayed, methodical selection and the inherited effects of compulsory training in each successive generation would soon complete the work; and unconscious selection is still
at work, at work, 1859 1860 | in progress, 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
as each man tries to procure, without intending to improve the breed, dogs which
will will 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 | will 1872 |
stand and hunt best. On the other hand, habit alone in some cases has sufficed;
no no 1859 1860 | hardly any 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
animal is more difficult
|