nsmitted than
others--although there are cases, as, for instance, a race of dogs
without tails has been produced by cutting off the tails of both sexes
of the dog, during several generations. "A few years ago," says Haeckel,
"a case occurred on an estate near Jena in which, by the careless
slamming of a stable-door, the tail of a bull was wrenched off, and the
calves begotten by this bull were all born without a tail. This is
certainly an exception; but it is very important to note the fact that
under certain unknown conditions such violent changes are transmitted in
the same manner as many diseases." The transmission of diseases such as
consumption, madness, and albinism form examples. Albinoes are those
individuals who are distinguished by the absence of coloring matter from
their skins; they are of frequent occurrence among men, animals and
plants. Among many animals, such as rabbits and mice, albinoes with
white fur and red eyes are so much liked that they are propagated. This
would be impossible were it not for the law of the transmission of
adaptations. Hornless cattle have descended from a single bull born in
1770 of horned parents, but whose absence of horns was the result of
some unknown cause.

The law of interrupted or latent transmission, as illustrated in
grandchildren who are like the grandparents, but quite unlike the
parents. Animals often resume a form which have not existed for many
generations. One of the most remarkable instances of this kind of
reversion, or "atavism," is the fact that in some horses there sometimes
appear singular dark stripes similar to those of the zebra, quagga, and
other wild species of African horse.

Nutrition directly modifies adaptation, as is well illustrated by
animals which have been bred for domestic or other purposes. If a farmer
is breeding for fine wool he gives much different food to the sheep than
he would if he wished to obtain flesh or an abundance of fat. Even the
bodily form of man is quite different according to its nutrition. Food
containing much nitrogen produces little fat, that containing little
nitrogen produces a great deal of fat. People who by means of Banting's
system, at present so popular, wish to become thin, eat only meat and
eggs--no bread, no potatoes.

Man can breed for milk in cattle, for feathers in pigeons, for colored
flowers in plants, and, in fact, for almost any desirable quality.

GEOLOGICAL RECORD.

_The Geological Record_ (pal