I will briefly run through the recorded cases. With neither horses nor cattle is the primitive stock known; and it has been shown in former chapters that they have assumed different colours in different countries. Thus the horses which have run wild in South America are generally brownish-bay, and in the East dun-coloured; their heads have become larger and coarser, and this may be due to reversion. No careful description has been given of the feral goat. Dogs which have run wild in various countries have hardly anywhere assumed a uniform character; but they are probably descended from several domestic races, and aboriginally from several distinct species. Feral cats, both in Europe and La Plata, are regularly striped; in some cases they have grown to an unusually large size, but do not differ from the domestic animal in any other character. When variously-coloured tame rabbits are turned out in Europe, they generally reacquire the colouring of the wild animal; there can be no doubt that this does really occur, but we should remember that oddly-coloured and conspicuous animals would suffer much from beasts of prey and from being easily shot; this at least was the opinion of a gentleman who tried to stock his woods with a nearly white variety; and when thus destroyed, they would in truth be supplanted by, instead of being transformed into, the common rabbit. We have seen that the feral rabbits of Jamaica, and especially of Porto Santo, have assumed new colours and other new characters. The best known case of reversion, and that on which the widely-spread belief in its universality apparently rests, is that of pigs. These animals have run wild in the West Indies, South America, and the Falkland Islands, and have everywhere acquired the dark colour, the thick bristles, and great tusks of the wild boar; and the young have reacquired longitudinal stripes. But even in the case of the pig, Roulin describes the half-wild animals in different parts of South America as differing in several respects. In Louisiana the pig11 has run wild, and is said to differ a little in form, and much in colour, from the domestic animal, yet does not closely resemble the wild boar of Europe. With pigeons and fowls,12 it is not known what variety was first turned out, nor what character the feral birds have assumed. The guinea-fowl in the West Indies, when feral, seems to vary more than in the domesticated state.
With respect to plants run wild, Dr. Hooker13 has strongly insisted on what slight evidence the common belief in their power of reversion rests. Godron14 describes wild turnips, carrots, and celery; but these plants in their cultivated state hardly differ from their wild prototypes, except in the
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11 Dureau de la Malle, in ‘Comptes Rendus,’ tom. xli., 1855, p. 807. From the statements above given, the author concludes that the wild pigs of Louisiana are not descended from the European Sus scrofa.
12 Capt. W. Allen, in his ‘Expedition to the Niger,’ states that fowls have run wild on the island of Annobon, and have become modified in form and voice. The account is so meagre and vague that it did not appear to me worth copying; but I now find that Dureau de la Malle (‘Comptes Rendus,’ tom. xli., 1855, p. 690) advances this as a good instance of reversion to the primitive stock, and as confirmatory of a still more vague statement in classical times by Varro.
13 ‘Flora of Australia,’ 1859, Introduct., p. ix.
14 ‘De l’Espèce,’ tom. ii. pp. 54, 58, 60
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succulency and enlargement of certain parts,—characters which would be surely lost by plants growing in a poor soil and struggling with other plants. No cultivated plant has run wild on so enormous a scale as the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) in La Plata. Every botanist who has seen it growing there, in vast beds, as high as a horse’s back, has been struck with its peculiar appearance; but whether it differs in any important point from the cultivated Spanish form, which is said not to be prickly like its American descendant, or whether it differs from the wild Mediterranean species, which is said not to be social, I do not know.
When distinct breeds are allowed to cross freely, the result will be a heterogeneous body; for instance, the dogs in Paraguay are far from uniform, and can no longer be affiliated to their parent-races.4 The character which a crossed body of animals will ultimately assume must depend on several contingencies,—namely, on the relative numbers of the individuals belonging to the two or more races which are allowed to mingle; on the prepotency of one race over the other in the transmission of character; and on the conditions of life to which they are exposed. When two commingled breeds exist at first in nearly equal numbers, the whole will sooner or later become intimately blended, but not so soon, both breeds being equally favoured in all respects, as might have been expected. The following calculation5 shows that this is the case: if a colony with an equal number of black and white men were founded, and we assume that they marry indiscriminately, are equally prolific, and that one in thirty annually dies and is born; then “in 65 years the number of blacks, whites, and mulattoes would be equal. In 91 years the whites would be 1-10th, the blacks 1-10th, and the mulattoes, or people of intermediate degrees of colour, 8-10ths of the whole number. In three centuries not 1-100th part of the whites would exist.”
When one of two mingled races exceeds the other greatly in number, the latter will soon be wholly, or almost wholly, absorbed and lost.6 Thus European pigs and dogs have been largely introduced into the islands of the Pacific Ocean, and the native races have been absorbed and lost in the course of about fifty or sixty years;7 but the imported races no doubt were favoured. Rats may be considered as semi-domesticated animals. Some snake-rats (Mus alexandrinus) escaped in the Zoological Gardens of London, “and for a long time afterwards the keepers frequently caught cross-bred rats, at first half-breds, afterwards with less and less of the character of the snake-rat, till at length all traces of it disappeared.”8 On the other hand,
4 Rengger, ‘Säugethiere,’ &c., s. 154.
5 White, ‘Regular Gradation in Man,’ p. 146.
6 Dr. W. F. Edwards, in his ‘Charactères Physiolog. des Races Humaines,’ p. 23, first called attention to this subject, and ably discussed it.
7 Rev. D. Tyerman, and Bennett, ‘Journal of Voyages,’ 1821-1829, vol. i. p. 300.
8 Mr. S. J. Salter, ‘Journal Linn. Soc.,’ vol. vi., 1862, p. 71.
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in some parts of London, especially near the docks, where fresh rats are frequently imported, an endless variety of intermediate forms may be found between the brown, black, and snake rat, which are all three usually ranked as distinct species.
How many generations are necessary for one species or race to absorb another by repeated crosses has often been discussed;9 and the requisite number has probably been much exaggerated. Some writers have maintained that a dozen, or score, or even more generations, are necessary; but this in itself is improbable, for in the tenth generation there will be only 1-1024th part of foreign blood in the offspring. Gärtner found,10 that with plants one species could be made to absorb another in from three to five generations, and he believes that this could always be effected in from six to seven generations. In one instance, however, Kölreuter11 speaks of the offspring of Mirabilis vulgaris, crossed during eight successive generations by M. longiflora, as resembling this latter species so closely, that the most scrupulous observer could detect “vix aliquam notabilem differentiam;”—he succeeded, as he says, “ad plenariam fere transmutationem.” But this expression shows that the act of absorption was not even then absolutely complete, though these crossed plants contained only the 1-256th part of M. vulgaris. The conclusions of such accurate observers as Gärtner and Kölreuter are of far higher worth than those made without scientific aim by breeders. The most remarkable statement which I have met with of the persistent endurance of the effects of a single cross is given by Fleischmann,12 who, in reference to German sheep, says “that the original coarse sheep have 5500 fibres of wool on a square inch; grades of the third or fourth Merino cross produced about 8000, the twentieth cross 27,000, the perfect pure Merino blood 40,000 to 48,000.” So that in this case common German sheep crossed twenty times successively with Merinos have not by any means acquired wool as fine as that of the pure breed. In all cases, the rate of absorption will
9 Sturm, ‘Ueber Racen, &c.,’ 1825, s. 107. Bronn, ‘Geschichte der Natur.,’ b. ii. s. 170, gives a table of the proportions of blood after successive crosses. Dr. P. Lucas, ‘l’Hérédité Nat.,’ tom. ii. p. 308.
10 ‘Bastarderzeugung,’ s. 463, 470.
11 ‘Nova Acta Petrop.,’ 1794, p. 393: see also previous volume.
12 As quoted in the ‘True Principles of Breeding,’ by C. H. Macknight and Dr. H. Madden, 1865, p. 11.
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depend largely on the conditions of life being favourable to any particular character; and we may suspect that there would be under the climate of Germany a constant tendency to degeneration in the wool of Merinos, unless prevented by careful selection; and thus perhaps the foregoing remarkable case may be explained. The rate of absorption must also depend on the amount of distinguishable difference between the two forms which are crossed, and especially, as Gärtner insists, on prepotency of transmission in the one form over the other. We have seen in the last chapter that one of two French breeds of sheep yielded up its character, when crossed with Merinos, very much slower than the other; and the common German sheep referred to by Fleischmann may present an analogous case. But in all cases there will be during many subsequent generations more or less liability to reversion, and it is this fact which has probably led authors to maintain that a score or more of generations are requisite for one race to absorb another. In considering the final result of the commingling of two or more breeds, we must not forget that the act of crossing in itself tends to bring back long-lost characters not proper to the immediate parent-forms.
With respect to the influence of the conditions of life on any two breeds which are allowed to cross freely, unless both are indigenous and have long been accustomed to the country where they live, they will, in all probability, be unequally affected by the conditions, and this will modify the result. Even with indigenous breeds, it will rarely or never occur that both are equally well adapted to the surrounding circumstances; more especially when permitted to roam freely, and not carefully tended, as will generally be the case with breeds allowed to cross. As a consequence of this, natural selection will to a certain extent come into action, and the best fitted will survive, and this will aid in determining the ultimate character of the commingled body.
How long a time it would require before such a crossed body of animals would assume within a limited area a uniform character no one can say; that they would ultimately become uniform from free intercrossing, and from the survival of the fittest, we may feel assured; but the character thus acquired would rarely or never, as we may infer from the several previous
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considerations, be exactly intermediate between that of the two parent-breeds. With respect to the very slight differences by which the individuals of the same sub-variety, or even of allied varieties, are characterised, it is obvious that free crossing would soon obliterate such small distinctions. The formation of new varieties, independently of selection, would also thus be prevented; except when the same variation continually recurred from the action of some strongly predisposing cause. Hence we may conclude that free crossing has in all cases played an important part in giving to all the members of the same domestic race, and of the same natural species, uniformity of character, though largely modified by natural selection and by the direct action of the surrounding conditions.
On the possibility of all organic beings occasionally intercrossing.—But it may be asked, can free crossing occur with hermaphrodite animals and plants? All the higher animals, and the few insects which have been domesticated, have separated sexes, and must inevitably unite for each birth. With respect to the crossing of hermaphrodites, the subject is too large for the present volume, and will be more properly treated in a succeeding work. In my ‘Origin of Species,’ however, I have given a short abstract of the reasons which induce me to believe that all organic beings occasionally cross, though perhaps in some cases only at long intervals of time.13 I will here just recall the fact that many plants, though hermaphrodite in structure, are unisexual in function;—such as those called by C. K. Sprengel dichogamous, in which the pollen and stigma of the same flower are matured at different periods; or those called by me reciprocally dimorphic, in which the flower’s own pollen is not fitted to fertilise its own stigma; or again, the many kinds in which curious mechanical contrivances exist, effectually preventing self-fertilisation. There are, however, many hermaphrodite plants which are not in any way specially constructed to favour intercrossing, but which nevertheless commingle almost as freely as animals with separated sexes. This is the case with cabbages, radishes, and onions, as I know from
13 With respect to plants, an admirable essay on this subject (Die Geschlechter-Vertheilung bei den Pflanzen: 1867) has lately been published by Dr. Hildebrand, who arrives at the same general conclusions as I have done.
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having experimented on them: even the peasants of Liguria say that cabbages must be prevented “from falling in love” with each other. In the orange tribe, Gallesio14 remarks that the amelioration of the various kinds is checked by their continual and almost regular crossing. So it is with numerous other plants.
Nevertheless some cultivated plants can be named which rarely intercross, as the common pea, or which never intercross, as I have reason to believe is the case with the sweet-pea (Lathyrus odoratus); yet the structure of these flowers certainly favours an occasional cross. The varieties of the tomato and aubergine (Solanum) and pimenta (Pimenta vulgaris?) are said15 never to cross, even when growing alongside each other. But it should be observed that these are all exotic plants, and we do not know how they would behave in their native country when visited by the proper insects.
It must also be admitted that some few natural species appear under our present state of knowledge to be perpetually self-fertilised, as in the case of the Bee Ophrys (O. apifera), though adapted in its structure to be occasionally crossed. The Leersia oryzoides produces minute enclosed flowers which cannot possibly be crossed, and these alone, to the exclusion of the ordinary flowers, have as yet been known to yield seed.16 A few additional and analogous cases could be advanced. But these facts do not make me doubt that it is a general law of nature that the individuals of the same species occasionally intercross, and that some great advantage is derived from this act. It is well known (and I shall hereafter have to give instances) that some plants, both indigenous and naturalised, rarely or never produce flowers; or, if they flower, never produce seeds. But no one is thus led to doubt that it is a general law of nature that phanerogamic plants should produce flowers, and that these flowers should produce seed. When they fail, we believe that such plants would perform their proper functions under different conditions, or that they formerly did so and will do so again. On analogous grounds, I believe that the few flowers
14 ‘Teoria della Riproduzione Vegetal,’ 1816, p. 12.
15 Verlot, ‘Des Variétés,’ 1865, p. 72.
16 Duval-Jouve, ‘Bull. Soc. Bot. de France,’ tom. x., 1863, p. 194.
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which do not now intercross, either would do so under different conditions, or that they formerly fertilised each other at intervals—the means for effecting this being generally still retained—and they will do so again at some future period, unless indeed they become extinct. On this view alone, many points in the structure and action of the reproductive organs in hermaphrodite plants and animals are intelligible,—for instance, the male and female organs never being so completely enclosed as to render access from without impossible. Hence we may conclude that the most important of all the means for giving uniformity to the individuals of the same species, namely, the capacity of occasionally intercrossing, is present, or has been formerly present, with all organic beings.
On certain Characters not blending.—When two breeds are crossed their characters usually become intimately fused together; but some characters refuse to blend, and are transmitted in an unmodified state either from both parents or from one. When grey and white mice are paired, the young are not piebald nor of an intermediate tint, but are pure white or of the ordinary grey colour: so it is when white and common collared turtle-doves are paired. In breeding Game fowls, a great authority, Mr. J. Douglas, remarks, “I may here state a strange fact: if you cross a black with a white game, you get birds of both breeds of the clearest colour.” Sir R. Heron crossed during many years white, black, brown, and fawn-coloured Angora rabbits, and never once got these colours mingled in the same animal, but often all four colours in the same litter.17 Additional cases could be given, but this form of inheritance is very far from universal even with respect to the most distinct colours. When turnspit dogs and ancon sheep, both of which have dwarfed limbs, are crossed with common breeds, the offspring are not intermediate in structure, but take after either parent. When tailless or hornless animals are crossed with perfect animals, it frequently, but by no means invariably, happens that the offspring are
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17 Extract of a letter from Sir R. Heron, 1838, given me by Mr. Yarrell. With respect to mice, see ‘Annal. des Sc. Nat.,’ tom. i. p. 180; and I have heard of other similar cases. For turtle-doves, Boitard and Corbié, ‘Les Pigeons,’ &c., p. 238. For the Game fowl, ‘The Poultry Book,’ 1866, p. 128. For crosses of tailless fowls, see Bechstein, ‘Naturges. Deutsch.’ b. iii. s. 403. Bronn, ‘Geschichte der Natur,’ b. ii. s. 170, gives analogous facts with horses. On the hairless condition of crossed South American dogs, see Rengger, ‘Säugethiere von Paraguay,’ s. 152: but I saw in the Zoological Gardens mongrels, from a similar cross, which were hairless, quite hairy, or hairy in patches, that is, piebald with hair. For crosses of Dorking and other fowls, see ‘Poultry Chronicle,’ vol. ii. p. 355. About the crossed pigs, extract of letter from Sir R. Heron to Mr. Yarrell. For other cases, see P. Lucas, ‘Héréd. Nat.,’ tom. i. p. 212.
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either perfectly furnished with these organs or are quite destitute of them. According to Rengger, the hairless condition of the Paraguay dog is either perfectly or not at all transmitted to its mongrel offspring; but I have seen one partial exception in a dog of this parentage which had part of its skin hairy, and part naked; the parts being distinctly separated as in a piebald animal. When Dorking fowls with five toes are crossed with other breeds, the chickens often have five toes on one foot and four on the other. Some crossed pigs raised by Sir R. Heron between the solid-hoofed and common pig had not all four feet in an intermediate condition, but two feet were furnished with properly divided, and two with united hoofs.
Analogous facts have been observed with plants: Major Trevor Clarke crossed the little, glabrous-leaved, annual stock (Matthiola), with pollen of a large, red-flowered, rough-leaved, biennial stock, called cocardeau by the French, and the result was that half the seedlings had glabrous and the other half rough leaves, but none had leaves in an intermediate state. That the glabrous seedlings were the product of the rough-leaved variety, and not accidentally of the mother-plant’s own pollen, was shown by their tall and strong habit of growth.18 In the succeeding generations raised from the rough-leaved crossed seedlings, some glabrous plants appeared, showing that the glabrous character, though incapable of blending with and modifying the rough leaves, was all the time latent in this family of plants. The numerous plants formerly referred to, which I raised from reciprocal crosses between the peloric and common Antirrhinum, offer a nearly parallel case; for in the first generation all the plants resembled the common form, and in the next generation, out of one hundred and thirty-seven plants, two alone were in an intermediate condition, the others perfectly resembling either the peloric or common form. Major Trevor Clarke also fertilised the above-mentioned red-flowered stock with pollen from the purple Queen stock, and about half the seedlings scarcely differed in habit, and not at all in the red colour of the flower, from the mother-plant, the other half bearing blossoms of a rich purple, closely like those of the paternal plant. Gärtner crossed many white and yellow-flowered species and varieties of Verbascum; and these colours were never blended, but the offspring bore either pure white or pure yellow blossoms; the former in the larger proportion.19 Dr. Herbert raised many seedlings, as he informed me, from Swedish turnips crossed by two other varieties, and these never produced flowers of an intermediate tint, but always like one of their parents. I fertilised the purple sweet-pea (Lathyrus odoratus), which has a dark reddish-purple standard-petal and violet-coloured wings and keel, with pollen of the painted-lady sweet-pea, which has a pale cherry-coloured standard, and almost white wings and keel; and from the same pod I twice raised plants perfectly resembling both sorts; the greater number resembling the father. So perfect was the resemblance, that I should have thought there had
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18 ‘Internat. Hort. and Bot. Congress of London,’ 1866.
19 ‘Bastarderzeugung,’ s. 307. Kölreuter (‘Dritte Fortsetszung,’ s. 34, 39), however, obtained intermediate tints from similar crosses in the genus Verbascum. With respect to the turnips, see Herbert’s ‘Amaryllidaceæ,’ 1837, p. 370.
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been some mistake, if the plants which were at first identical with the paternal variety, namely, the painted-lady, had not later in the season produced, as mentioned in a former chapter, flowers blotched and streaked with dark purple. I raised grandchildren and great-grandchildren from these crossed plants, and they continued to resemble the painted-lady, but during the later generations became rather more blotched with purple, yet none reverted completely to the original mother-plant, the purple sweet-pea. The following case is slightly different, but still shows the same principle: Naudin20 raised numerous hybrids between the yellow Linaria vulgaris and the purple L. purpurea, and during three successive generations the colours kept distinct in different parts of the same flower.
From such cases as the foregoing, in which the offspring of the first generation perfectly resemble either parent, we come by a small step to those cases in which differently coloured flowers borne on the same root resemble both parents, and by another step to those in which the same flower or fruit is striped or blotched with the two parental colours, or bears a single stripe of the colour or other characteristic quality of one of the parent-forms. With hybrids and mongrels it frequently or even generally happens that one part of the body resembles more or less closely one parent and another part the other parent; and here again some resistance to fusion, or, what comes to the same thing, some mutual affinity between the organic atoms of the same nature, apparently comes into play, for otherwise all parts of the body would be equally intermediate in character. So again, when the offspring of hybrids or mongrels, which are themselves nearly intermediate in character, revert either wholly or by segments to their ancestors, the principle of the affinity of similar, or the repulsion of dissimilar atoms, must come into action. To this principle, which seems to be extremely general, we shall recur in the chapter on pangenesis.
It is remarkable, as has been strongly insisted upon by Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire in regard to animals, that the transmission of characters without fusion occurs most rarely when species are crossed; I know of one exception alone, namely, with the hybrids naturally produced between the common and hooded crow (Corvus corone and cornix), which, however, are closely allied species, differing in nothing except colour. Nor have I met with any well-ascertained cases of transmission of this kind, even when one form is strongly prepotent over another, when two races are crossed which have been slowly formed by man’s selection, and therefore resemble to a certain extent natural species. Such cases as puppies in the same litter closely resembling two distinct breeds, are probably due to super-fœtation,—that is, to the influence of two fathers. All the characters above enumerated, which are transmitted in a perfect state to some of the offspring and not to others,—such as distinct colours, nakedness of skin, smoothness of leaves, absence of horns or tail, additional toes, pelorism, dwarfed structure, &c.,—have all been known to appear suddenly in individual animals and plants. From this fact, and from the several slight, aggregated differences which distinguish domestic races and species from
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20 ‘Nouvelles Archives du Muséum,’ tom. i. p. 100.
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each other, not being liable to this peculiar form of transmission, we may conclude that it is in some way connected with the sudden appearance of the characters in question.
On the Modification of old Races and the Formation of new Races by Crossing.—We have hitherto chiefly considered the effects of crossing in giving uniformity of character; we must now look to an opposite result. There can be no doubt that crossing, with the aid of rigorous selection during several generations, has been a potent means in modifying old races, and in forming new ones. Lord Orford crossed his famous stud of greyhounds once with the bulldog, which breed was chosen from being deficient in scenting powers, and from having what was wanted, courage and perseverance. In the course of six or seven generations all traces of the external form of the bulldog were eliminated, but courage and perseverance remained. Certain pointers have been crossed, as I hear from the Rev. W. D. Fox, with the foxhound, to give them dash and speed. Certain strains of Dorking fowls have had a slight infusion of Game blood; and I have known a great fancier who on a single occasion crossed his turbit-pigeons with barbs, for the sake of gaining greater breadth of beak.
In the foregoing cases breeds have been crossed once, for the sake of modifying some particular character; but with most of the improved races of the pig, which now breed true, there have been repeated crosses,—for instance, the improved Essex owes its excellence to repeated crosses with the Neapolitan, together probably with some infusion of Chinese blood.21 So with our British sheep: almost all the races, except the Southdown, have been largely crossed; “this, in fact, has been the history of our principal breeds.”22 To give an example, the “Oxfordshire Downs” now rank as an established breed.23 They were produced about the year 1830 by crossing “Hampshire and in some instances Southdown ewes with Cotswold rams:” now the Hampshire ram was itself produced by repeated crosses between the native
21 Richardson, ‘Pigs,’ 1847, pp. 37, 42; S. Sidney’s edition of ‘Youatt on the Pig,’ 1860, p. 3.
22 See Mr. W. C. Spooner’s excellent paper on Cross-Breeding, ‘Journal Royal Agricult. Soc.,’ vol. xx., part ii.: see also an equally good article by Mr. Ch. Howard, in ‘Gardener’s Chronicle,’ 1860, p. 320.
23 ‘Gardener’s Chronicle,’ 1857, pp. 649, 652.
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Hampshire sheep and Southdowns; and the long-woolled Cotswold were improved by crosses with the Leicester, which latter again is believed to have been a cross between several long-woolled sheep. Mr. Spooner, after considering the various cases which have been carefully recorded, concludes “that from a judicious pairing of cross-bred animals it is practicable to establish a new breed.” On the Continent the history of several crossed races of cattle and of other animals has been well ascertained. To give one instance: the King of Wurtemberg, after twenty-five years’ careful breeding, that is after six or seven generations, made a new breed of cattle from a cross between a Dutch and Swiss breed, combined with other breeds.24 The Sebright bantam, which breeds as true as any other kind of fowl, was formed about sixty years ago by a complicated cross.25 Dark Brahmas, which are believed by some fanciers to constitute a distinct species, were undoubtedly formed26 in the United States, within a recent period, by a cross between Chittagongs and Cochins. With plants I believe there is little doubt that some kinds of turnips, now extensively cultivated, are crossed races; and the history of a variety of wheat which was raised from two very distinct varieties, and which after six years’ culture presented an even sample, has been recorded on good authority.27
Until quite lately, cautious and experienced breeders, though not averse to a single infusion of foreign blood, were almost universally convinced that the attempt to establish a new race, intermediate between two widely distinct races, was hopeless: “they clung with superstitious tenacity to the doctrine of purity of blood, believing it to be the ark in which alone true safety could be found.”28 Nor was this conviction unreasonable: when two distinct races are crossed, the offspring of the first generation are generally nearly uniform in character; but even this sometimes fails to be the case, especially with crossed dogs and fowls, the young of which from the first are sometimes much
24 ‘Bulletin de la Soc. d’ Acclimat.,’ 1862, tom. ix. p. 463. See also, for other cases, M M. Moll and Gayot, ‘Du Bœuf,’ 1860, p. xxxii.
25 ‘Poultry Chronicle,’ vol. ii., 1854, p. 36.
26 ‘The Poultry Book,’ by W. B. Tegetmeier, 1866, p. 58.
27 ‘Gardener’s Chronicle, 1852, p. 765.
28 Spooner, in ‘Journal Royal Agricult. Soc.,’ vol. xx., part ii.
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diversified. As cross-bred animals are generally of large size and vigorous, they have been raised in great numbers for immediate consumption. But for breeding they are found to be utterly useless; for though they may be themselves uniform in character, when paired together they yield during many generations offspring astonishingly diversified. The breeder is driven to despair, and concludes that he will never form an intermediate race. But from the cases already given, and from others which have been recorded, it appears that patience alone is necessary; as Mr. Spooner remarks, “nature opposes no barrier to successful admixture; in the course of time, by the aid of selection and careful weeding, it is practicable to establish a new breed.” After six or seven generations the hoped-for result will in most cases be obtained; but even then an occasional reversion, or failure to keep true, may be expected. The attempt, however, will assuredly fail if the conditions of life be decidedly unfavourable to the characters of either parent-breed.29
Although the grandchildren and succeeding generations of cross-bred animals are generally variable in an extreme degree, some curious exceptions to the rule have been observed, both with crossed races and species. Thus Boitard and Corbié30 assert that from a Pouter and a Runt “a Cavalier will appear, which we have classed amongst pigeons of pure race, because it transmits all its qualities to its posterity.” The editor of the ‘Poultry Chronicle’31 bred some bluish fowls from a black Spanish cock and a Malay hen; and these remained true to colour “generation after generation.” The Himalayan breed of rabbits was certainly formed by crossing two sub-varieties of the silver-grey rabbit; although it suddenly assumed its present character, which differs much from that of either parent-breed, yet it has ever since been easily and truly propagated. I crossed some Labrador and Penguin ducks, and recrossed the mongrels with Penguins; afterwards, most of the ducks reared during three generations were nearly uniform in character, being brown with a white crescentic mark on the lower part of the breast,
29 See Colin’s ‘Traité de Phys. Comp. des Animaux Domestiques,’ tom. ii. p. 536, where this subject is well treated.
30 ‘Les Pigeons,’ p. 37.
31 Vol. i., 1854, p. 101.
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and with some white spots at the base of the beak; so that by the aid of a little selection a new breed might easily have been formed. In regard to crossed varieties of plants, Mr. Beaton remarks32 that “Melville’s extraordinary cross between the Scotch kale and an early cabbage is as true and genuine as any on record;” but in this case no doubt selection was practised. Gärtner33 has given five cases of hybrids, in which the progeny kept constant; and hybrids between Dianthus armoria and deltoides remained true and uniform to the tenth generation. Dr. Herbert likewise showed me a hybrid from two species of Loasa which from its first production had kept constant during several generations.
We have seen in the earlier chapters, that some of our domesticated animals, such as dogs, cattle, pigs, &c., are almost certainly descended from more than one species, or wild race, if any one prefers to apply this latter term to forms which were enabled to keep distinct in a state of nature. Hence the crossing of aboriginally distinct species probably came into play at an early period in the formation of our present races. From Rütimeyer’s observations there can be little doubt that this occurred with cattle; but in most cases some one of the forms which were allowed to cross freely, will, it is probable, have absorbed and obliterated the others. For it is not likely that semi-civilized men would have taken the necessary pains to modify by selection their commingled, crossed, and fluctuating stock. Nevertheless, those animals which were best adapted to their conditions of life would have survived through natural selection; and by this means crossing will often have indirectly aided in the formation of primeval domesticated breeds.
Within recent times, as far as animals are concerned, the crossing of distinct species has done little or nothing in the formation or modification of our races. It is not yet known whether the species of silk-moth which have been recently crossed in France will yield permanent races. In the fourth chapter I alluded with some hesitation to the statement that a new breed, between the hare and rabbit, called leporides, had been formed in France, and was found capable of propagating
32 Cottage Gardener,’ 1856, p. 110.
33 ‘Bastarderzeugung,’ s. 553.
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itself; but it is now positively affirmed34 that this is an error. With plants which can be multiplied by buds and cuttings, hybridisation has done wonders, as with many kinds of Roses, Rhododendrons, Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, and Petunias. Nearly all these plants can be propagated by seed; most of them freely; but extremely few or none come true by seed.
Some authors believe that crossing is the chief cause of variability,—that is, of the appearance of absolutely new characters. Some have gone so far as to look at it as the sole cause; but this conclusion is disproved by some of the facts given in the chapter on Bud-variation. The belief that characters not present in either parent or in their ancestors frequently originate from crossing is doubtful; that they occasionally thus arise is probable; but this subject will be more conveniently discussed in a future chapter on the causes of Variability.
A condensed summary of this and of the three following chapters, together with some remarks on Hybridism, will be given in the nineteenth chapter.
fynm 