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Show 712 REV. DR. GOODACRE ON THE CHINESE GOOSE. [NOV. 18, of the Grey-lag, how came there to be wild Chinese birds ? To which it may be replied, Is it certain that there are any ? m a y not the supposed wild specimens be only feral ? If so, it would be a somewhat similar case to feral "chequered" Rock-Doves, as far as regards breeding for generations without reverting to the original type. The fertility between these two forms of Domestic Geese reminds m e forcibly of tbe same thing between divers so-called species of wild Pheasants, as shown by M r . Tegetmeier; and I a m inclined to accept hi.-s solution of the mystery as applicable to Geese also. Of course I do not pretend to be able to prove the specific identity of the C o m m o n and the Chinese Goose ; but I think what I have said may be taken as evidence that such a theory is really not so absurd as it m a y at first sight appear to be. The doctrine of specific identity of certain very diverse forms of animals appears to m e one deserving of careful study; and every case that m a y be supposed to illustrate it in a marked way seems of importance towards attaining what w e ought all to be seeking-the truth. Hence the fertility of the offspring of C o m m o n and Chinese Geese may teach us lessons of general interest and importance in zoology. Great variations of a species are chiefly to be observed in domestic animals; but we err if we suppose they do not occur among wild ones, although doubtless many are masked from our observation by their receiving specific names when in reality they are nothing more than varieties or geographical races. In conclusion I will briefly state that there are three points, in the cross-bred Geese themselves which we have been considering, which incline m e to look on them as mongrels. According to the laws of bybridity one would have expected the trachea to be intermediate between the parent forms (as it is in hybrids of tbe Musk-Drake with the C o m m o n Duck), and the knob on the bill and the stripe on the neck to be quite suppressed ; now none of these things happen. I shall be glad to hear that any zoologist is willing to turn his attention towards solving the mystery that certain so-called hybrids produce fertile offspring (which most do not); for this seems always to happen in cases in which the right to specific distinction is questioned by some naturalists. Wilby Eectory, Norfolk, September 1879. |