even some of the human race*. Some varieties of dogs take to the water easily, while others avoid it with much care: Some only houl like the hound, others bark almost incefsantly, as the lap dog; others like the grehound seldom let their voice be heard; and others, are entirely mute. To enumerate all the diversities would be tiresome; but this slight sketch ought to be sufficient to make one hesitate in admitting, without proof, that such prodigious diversities fhould all have been the progeny of one common pa

rent.

Were these diversities only casual and apt to vary, it might be more easy for us to give faith to the hypotheses; but this is not the case. Experience hath fully proved, that any one breed may be kept perfectly uncontaminated for any length of time, with all its distinctive peculiarities entire, merely by pre

* Of the sagacity of dogs many instances might be adduced; but none that I have ever met with can equal the following instances of the sagacity of a shepherd's dog; the owner himself having been hang. ed some years ago for sheep stealing, the following facts, among o thers respecting the dog, were authenticated by evidence on his trial.

When the man intended to steal any sheep, he did not do it himself, but detached his dog to perform the business. With this view, under pretext of looking at the sheep, with an intention to purchase them, he went through the flock with his dog at his foot, to whom he secretly gave a signal so as to let him know the individuals he wanted, to the number of perhaps ten or twelve, out of a flock of some hundreds; he then went away, and from a distance of several miles sent back the dog by himself in the night time, who picked out the individual sheep that had been pointed out to him,-separated them from the flock, and drove them before him by himself, for the distance of ten or twelve miles till he came up with his master, to whom he delivered

charge.

up his

venting an intermixture by copulation. Nor is this all it is also known that if such intermixture be permitted, the descendants will undoubtedly be a mixed breed, evidently participating of the qualities and appearences of both its parents. Between a hound and a grehound, a mongrel breed is obtained which pofsefses the sense of smelling, though in a lefs degree than the one, and the faculty of fleetnefs in a less degree than the other, of its parents; and its whole external appearance evidently indicates at first sight, the compound of the stock from whence it has descended. The same thing is observable in every other mongrel breed: and after the distinctive qualities have been thus blended together, it does not seem pofsible ever to separate them, so as to obtain once more a breed from that progeny, which shall possess the original qualities of either of the parents pure. This may be indeed nearly effected, by crossing repeatedly with a pure individual, of the unmixed breed through many generations; by which means the qualities which were once equally blended, will become so unequally mixed, as that one of them fhall not be discernible; just as an equal mixture of milk and water might, by frequent additions of pure water, have the milk so much diluted as to be totally imperceptible.

Now, in this last case, whether is it more natural for me to suppose, when I see the two fluids, milk and water, perfectly distinct, that these fluids were originally separate and distinct things, or to believe that both the milk and the water had been the same thing originally, and by some wonderful procefs, of which

we had seen no example, but much the reverse, had spontaneously separated, and in time become two distinct fluids, both of which we are sure, inevitably to lose, if ever they fhall be suffered to mix together again? The production of distinct breeds of animals, is equally contradictory to the whole of the experience we have had in the breeding of domestic animals. It is easy for us when we please to adulterate any breed; but it totally exceeds onr power after such adulteration to recover the pure breed again.

If, with a view to enlarge our ideas on this head, we go to vegetables, in regard to the varieties of which, philosophers entertain nearly the same opinions, we shall find among those that are called varieties very great diversities, so as to constitute several distinct clafses.

In one clafs, for example, among which may be ranked the common potatoe, we find that plants obtained from seeds are disposed to sport infinitely; and none of the progeny can ever be expected to be found exactly of the same kind with the parent stock that if that stock be not propagated otherwise than by seeds, it will be lost never to be recovered.* Many plants belong to this clafs, as pinks, carnations, &c.

; so

Another clafs of plants, which are equally stiled varieties are not liable to sport, or indeed to intermingle at all in breeding, but continue to propagate their own kind by seeds without variation. No

*See Bath society papers, vol. vi.

man I believe ever had a white pea from a gray, or a gray from a white. If white pease perfectly unmixed with gray are sown, it is whole of the produce will be white, many plants also belong to this class.

well known the and so of gray:

A third class, like that of animals, may be raised by seeds either pure and unadulterated, or mixed and of a mongrel breed, at pleasure. Cabbages afford a noted instance of this sort: white or red cabbages may be reared from seeds without degenerating, for any length of time, if the two kinds be kept at a great distance from each other; but should a white cabbage be allowed to perfect its seeds in the neighbourhood of red cabbages producing seeds at the same time, a mongrel kind would rise from these seeds, which would not be pure white, nor distinct red, but a pale red compounded of the two. Early and late cabbages; which are very distinguishable from each other in several respects, b si es earliness, are adulterated in the same manner. Savoys in like manner may be blended thus also with cabbages or other greens. In fhort, the peculiarities affecting this clafs of plants, are precisely similar to those affecting different breeds of dogs, and other animals; so that when once a mongrel breed has been obtained, there is no recovering the true sort, but by a fresh importation of uncontaminated seeds, though the mongrel sort may be preserved as long as you please by propagating it by itself.

The inference I would draw from these facts, (and other classes of plants might be named) is, that since we find naturalists have overlooked some very

obvious peculiarities of plants, which affect those diversities that have been called varieties, they may have in like manner overlooked other peculiarities that may occasion striking diversities among anis mals, which have been called varieties and as this subject has never yet been thoroughly investigated, it behooves us to be cautious in admitting general conclusions.

With regard to dogs, which as being well known to every one, are a fit object for illustration, we see, that let a small lap dog, and a large mastiff be fed with the same food and tended with the same care, the one discovers no symptoms of increasing in size or diminishing it more than the other. Let them be carried from one country to another, they equally preserve their original distinctive qualities, without any farther change than the climate may perhaps produce; which equally seems to affect all the varieties of this animal. Never was there adopted an hypothesis more truly absurd than that of Buffon in this respect. Nor was there ever made such a barefaced attempt to try how far the credu lity of mankind could lead them astray in deference to a great name, in direct contradiction to facts which fall immediately under the cognisance of every man who pleases but to open his eyes, and look right before him, as in those bold and unfounded afsertions which he has ben pleased to make, with regard to the transformation of dogs, from one variety into another. Yet these opinions have been inadvertantly transcribed many times by learned naturalists, without one symptom of doubt or hesitation.