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 Wurtemburg, 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 a Swiss breed, combined with other breeds.25 The Sebright bantam, which breeds as true as any other kind of fowl, was formed about sixty years ago by a complicated cross.26 Dark Brahmas, which are believed by some fanciers to constitute a distinct species, were undoubtedly formed 27 in the United States, within a recent period, by a cross between Chittagongs and Cochins. With plants there is little doubt that the Swede-turnip originated from a cross; and the history of a variety of wheat, raised from two very distinct varieties, and which after six years' culture presented an even sample, has been recorded on good authority.28 Until 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." 29 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 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 utterly useless; 25 Bulletin de la Soc. d'Acclimat.,' 1862, tom. ix. p. 463. See also, for other cases, MM. Moll and Gayot, Du Bœuf,' 1860, p. xxxii. 26 Poultry Chronicle,' vol. ii., 1854, p. 36. 27 The Poultry Book,' by W. B. Tegetmeier, 1866, p. 58. 28 Gardener's Chronicle,' 1852, p. 765. 29 Spooner, in Journal Royal Agricult. Soc., vol. xx., part ii. for though they may themselves be uniform in character, they yield during many generations astonishingly diversified offspring. 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.30 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 Corbié 31 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' 32 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, 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. With so See Colin's Traité de Phys. Comp. des Animaux Domestiques,' tom. ii. p. 536, where this subject is well treated. 31 Les Pigeons,' p. 37. regard to crossed varieties of plants, Mr. Beaton remarks 33 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. Gärtner 34 has given five cases of hybrids, in which the progeny kept constant; and hybrids between Dianthus armeria 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 first chapter, that the several kinds of dogs are almost certainly descended from more than one species, and so it is with cattle, pigs and some other domesticated animals. 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 one form will probably have absorbed and obliterated the other, 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 towards the formation or modification of our races. It is not yet known whether the several species of silk-moth which have been recently crossed in France will yield permanent races. 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 33 Cottage Gardener,' 1856, p. 34 Bastarderzegung,' s. 553. characters. Some have gone so far as to look at it as the sole cause; but this conclusion is disproved by 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 do so 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. CHAPTER XVI. CAUSES WHICH INTERFERE WITH THE FREE CROSSING OF DIFFICULTIES IN JUDGING OF THE FERTILITY OF VARIETIES WHEN CROSSED -VARIOUS CAUSES WHICH KEEP VARIETIES DISTINCT, AS THE PERIOD OF BREEDING AND SEXUAL PREFERENCE-VARIETIES OF WHEAT SAID TO BE STERILE WHEN CROSSED-VARIETIES OF MAIZE, VERBASCUM, HOLLYHOCK, GOURDS, MELONS, AND TOBACCO, RENDERED IN SOME DEGREE MUTUALLY STERILE-DOMESTICATION ELIMINATES THE TENDENCY ΤΟ STERILITY NATURAL TO SPECIES WHEN CROSSED ON THE INCREASED FERTILITY OF UNCROSSED ANIMALS AND PLANTS FROM DOMESTICATION AND CULTIVATION. THE domesticated races of both animals and plants, when crossed, are, with extremely few exceptions, quite prolific,-in some cases even more so than the purely-bred parent-races. The offspring, also, raised from such crosses are likewise, as we shall see in the following chapter, generally more vigorous and fertile than their parents. On the other hand, species when crossed, and their hybrid offspring, are almost invariably in some degree sterile; and here there seems to exist a broad and insuperable distinction between races and species. The importance of this subject as bearing on the origin of species is obvious; and we shall hereafter recur to it. It is unfortunate how few precise observations have been made on the fertility of mongrel animals and plants during several successive generations. Dr. Broca has remarked that no one has observed whether, for instance, mongrel dogs, bred inter se, are indefinitely fertile; yet, if a shade of infertility be detected by careful observation in the offspring of natural forms when crossed, it is thought that their specific distinction is proved. But so many breeds of sheep, cattle, pigs, dogs, and poultry, have been crossed and recrossed in various ways, that any sterility, if it had existed, would from being injurious almost certainly have been observed. In 1Journal de Physiolog.,' tom. ii., 1859, p. 385. |