That the mental qualities of animals of the same kind, born in a state of
nature, vary much, could be shown by many facts. Several cases could also
be adduced of occasional and strange habits in wild animals, which, if
advantageous to the species, might have given rise, through natural
selection, to new instincts. But I am well aware that these general
statements, without the facts in detail, can produce but a feeble effect on
the reader's mind. I can only repeat my assurance, that I do not speak
without good evidence.
INHERITED CHANGES OF HABIT OR INSTINCT IN DOMESTICATED ANIMALS.
The possibility, or even probability, of inherited variations of instinct
in a state of nature will be strengthened by briefly considering a few
cases under domestication. We shall thus be enabled to see the part which
habit and the selection of so-called spontaneous variations have played in
modifying the mental qualities of our domestic animals. It is notorious
how much domestic animals vary in their mental qualities. With cats, for
instance, one naturally takes to catching rats, and another mice, and these
tendencies are known to be inherited. One cat, according to Mr. St. John,
always brought home game birds, another hares or rabbits, and another
hunted on marshy ground and almost nightly caught woodcocks or snipes. A
number of curious and authentic instances could be given of various shades
of disposition and taste, and likewise of the oddest tricks, associated
with certain frames of mind or periods of time.
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