OCR Text |
Show 1896.] MR. HILL ON INHERITANCE OF ACQUIRED CHARACTERS. 785 last-named animal he had never previously seen alive. It was generally black, with a white line at the angle of the mouth and slight white tips to the ears; nearly 3 feet in height at the shoulders. The curious long-haired, divaricated mane was slightly mixed with whitish hairs. There were also an adult pair of Cobus elllpslprymnus, and two pairs of C. unctuosus, with a young one born in the Gardens. The Giraffe-house was unfortunately vacant. At The Hague Garden, M r . Sclater had found little of interest except an example of Canis adustus, Sund., from South Africa. He doubted wdiether Dr. Mivart was correct in referring C. lateralis, ScL, of the Gaboon district, to the same species. At Rotterdam (Heer Van Bemmelen, Director) M r . Sclater found a fine new Lion-house, a new set of Offices, and other buildings erected since his last visit. The beautiful specimen of Cephalophus sylvicultrix which had been figured in the ' Book of Antelopes' (plate xii.) was still alive and in excellent condition. Mr. Sclater had also noticed a pair of Anoas (Bos depressicornis) and a young male Canis jubatus. The Heronry of Wild Herons in the Garden had this year contained 58 nests. Mr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, F.Z.S., made some remarks on a supposed case of Telegony, as shown by a Fox-terrier puppy which possessed Dachshund peculiarities, possibly due to a known earlier fertilization of its mother by a Dachshund. The puppy, which had been bred by Mr. 0. H . Latter, F.Z.S., was exhibited. A discussion followed in which Sir Everett Millais, M r . B. Tegetmeier, and others took part. The general opinion seemed to be adverse to the theory of Telegony. Mr. Leonard Hill, M.B., Lecturer on Physiology, London Hospital Medical College, and Grocers' Company Research Scholar, gave the following account of some experiments on supposed cases of the inheritance of acquired characters which he had been carrying o n :- " It has been recorded by Brown-Sequard that after section of the cervical sympathetic nerve in Guinea-pigs, a droop of the upper eyelid is acquired, and that this droop is transmitted to the young. " This statement, at the request of the late Dr. Romanes, I have put to the test of thorough experimental observation. "In March 1895 I took six healthy normal Guinea-pigs, and in all divided the cervical sympathetic nerve on the left side. A droop of the upper eyelid was thus established, and this has persisted undiminished up to the present date. "These Guinea-pigs were allowed to interbreed. In none of their 51* |