Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, D.D., on the question of hybridity in animals : considered in reference to the unity of the human species / by Samuel George Morton.

  • Morton, Samuel George, 1799-1851.
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, D.D., on the question of hybridity in animals : considered in reference to the unity of the human species / by Samuel George Morton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    ter of opinion; and among these is the origin of the domestic sheep; some referring all its varieties to the Argali, (Ovis ammon,) others to the Moufflon, (Ovis musmon ;) and the great Cuvier seems not to have made up his opinion on this point; for he says, it is supposed that from the Moufflon, or from the Argali, are derived the innumerable races of our woolly animals. You remark, that it remains for our opponents to prove that our different varieties of sheep have been de- rived from commingled species.' Permit me to say that I believe it equally difficult to prove the converse of this proposition ; for even those naturalists who consider them all as the descendants of one species, re- fer us to at least two distinct species for the origin of the race. I stand corrected with respect to the Capra cegagrus, which is by general consent admitted to be the source of the common goat; but look into Cuvier, genus Capra, and you will there observe that he de- cribes two very distinct species, the C. ibex and C. caucasica ; and he concludes his remarks in these words: The two species mix with the domestic goat. He further states, in some preceding remarks, that there is a race of goats in upper Egypt, with short hair, convex chauf- rin, and projecting lower jaw, which possibly is hybrid. Tn these ex- amples Cuvier sustains Hamilton Smith. Your remarks upon the hybrid between the Finland ram and Sar- dinian doc. are of the dogmatical class; and so also those respecting tin; Camels. The best Zoologists, with Cuvier at the head of them, di- vide thi.' camels into two species. This authority is sufficient for me, and I have always adopted it. Buffon and others, you remark, have re- garded tlirin '' only as varieties of the same species. I will give you the reason of Buffon's opinion. He maintained the postulate of Ray,— any two animals that can procreate together, and whose issue can procreate, are specifically th^ same. Now, since the two camels produce, inter se, a mixed offspring, he for that reason and for that alone, referred them to the same species. The following are his words, which T trans- late as literally as possible : The two kinds of Camel produce together, and the individuals de- rived from this cross possess more vigor than the original stocks, and are consequently more highly valued than the others. These hybrids, the issue of the dromedary and the camel, constitute a secondary race which is equally prolific, (qui se multiplie pareillement) and mixes with the primitive races.* Buffon was a most industrious and at the same time a very cautious, and I may add, conscientious collector of facts ; but like other men of