The genetic and endocrine basis for differences in form and behaviour as elucidated by studies of contrasted pure-line dog breeds and their hybrids. With special contributions on behaviour by O. D. Anderson and W.T James.

IN 1926 the late Dr Stockard organized, with the financial assistance of the Other CABI sites  Abstract : IN 1926 the late Dr Stockard organized, with the financial assistance of the Rockefeller Foundation, an experimental dog farm. The aim was to submit to experimental test in a mammal offering an unparalleled array of types, his well known views ( physical basis of personality, 1931) on the relations between endocrines and " constitution. " The present book gives some of the results obtained by Dr Stockard and his collaborators up to about 1939. As explained in the foreword, the manuscript was almost complete at the time of Dr Stockard's death and was subsequently prepared by a Committee for publication with as little modification as possible. This accounts for the incompleteness of certain parts. Especially regrettable is the absence of a comprehensive discussion: no doubt, together with the stimulating " Introduction " (Stockard), such a discussion would have disposed of the criticism, which can hardly be withheld, that this monograph is cumbersome. In brief, the main problem was to see whether, granted a genetical basis for differences in form and function between breeds, the effect is via the endocrine system, or by means of a localized action, or by a combination of both mechanisms. The breeds selected for testing these points were those presenting the most contrasted endocrine types as well as the most contrasted localized and/or generalized morphological types. Section II (Stockard) describes the investigation of limb achondroplasia in crosses Hound, Dachshund, and Pekingese with German Shepherd, Saluki, Brussels Griffon, English Bulldog, French Bulldog, and Boston Terrier. Achondroplasia of the limbs found to be due to a single gene with effect in the hétérozygote very like that in the homozygote achondroplastic, but variable in severity according to the type of bone on which it happens to act. The same gene is responsible in all the above achondroplastic breeds. Some general inferences about the homology of this gene in all mammals no doubt, be open to criticism in the light of modern views about homology of function and homology of locus. Section III (Stockard and Johnson), which deals with skull variation, is so ample that it is difficult to summarise adequately, beyond saying that the number of skull features capable of being independently or jointly affected by hereditary factors is very great with a lot of interaction between general (presumably endocrine) and localized effects skilful statistical handling of the data would probably have yielded more information than the innumerable graphs. Interesting features of this section are the observations on several exaggeration effects in the hybrids: e.g. the excessive skin area of some recombinants with the English Bulldog. Section IV (Stockard) is an investigation of screw tail as it appears in the English Bulldog: two recessive genes are involved, one determining the shortness of the tail and the other the bend. Section V (Stockard and Vicari) deals with the histology of the pituitary, thyroid and parathyroid in relation to the body types of the different breeds. Breed differences histology are conspicuous, and some interesting correlations seem to exist between body IN 1926 the late Dr Stockard organized, with the financial assistance of the Rockefeller Foundation, an experimental dog farm. The aim was to submit to experimental test in a mammal offering an unparalleled array of types, his well known views ( physical basis of personality, 1931) on the relations between endocrines and " constitution. " The present book gives some of the results obtained by Dr Stockard and his collaborators up to about 1939. As explained in the foreword, the manuscript was almost complete at the time of Dr Stockard's death and was subsequently prepared by a Committee for publication with as little modification as possible. This accounts for the incompleteness of certain parts. Especially regrettable is the absence of a comprehensive discussion: no doubt, together with the stimulating " Introduction " (Stockard), such a discussion would have disposed of the criticism, which can hardly be withheld, that this monograph is cumbersome. In brief, the main problem was to see whether, granted a genetical basis for differences in form and function between breeds, the effect is via the endocrine system, or by means of a localized action, or by a combination of both mechanisms. The breeds selected for testing these points were those presenting the most contrasted endocrine types as well as the most contrasted localized and/or generalized morphological types. Section II (Stockard) describes the investigation of limb achondroplasia in crosses Hound, Dachshund, and Pekingese with German Shepherd, Saluki, Brussels Griffon, English Bulldog, French Bulldog, and Boston Terrier. Achondroplasia of the limbs found to be due to a single gene with effect in the hétérozygote very like that in the homozygote achondroplastic, but variable in severity according to the type of bone on which it happens to act. The same gene is responsible in all the above achondroplastic breeds. Some general inferences about the homology of this gene in all mammals no doubt, be open to criticism in the light of modern views about homology of function and homology of locus. Section III (Stockard and Johnson), which deals with skull variation, is so ample that it is difficult to summarise adequately, beyond saying that the number of skull features capable of being independently or jointly affected by hereditary factors is very great with a lot of interaction between general (presumably endocrine) and localized effects skilful statistical handling of the data would probably have yielded more information than the innumerable graphs. Interesting features of this section are the observations on several exaggeration effects in the hybrids: e.g. the excessive skin area of some recombinants with the English Bulldog. Section IV (Stockard) is an investigation of screw tail as it appears in the English Bulldog: two recessive genes are involved, one determining the shortness of the tail and the other the bend. Section V (Stockard and Vicari) deals with the histology of the pituitary, thyroid and parathyroid in relation to the body types of the different breeds. Breed differences histology are conspicuous, and some interesting correlations seem to exist between body Record Number : 19430100872 Publisher : Philadelphia : Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology Language of text : not specified Language of summary : not specified Indexing terms for this abstract: Organism descriptor(s) : dogs, German Shepherd, mammals Descriptor(s) : analysis, bones, breed differences, breeds, crossbreds, crosses, dog breeds effects, endocrine glands, endocrine system, estimation, genes, genetics, handling histology, homozygotes, hybrids, interactions, limbs, modification, monographs, pituitary, publications, recessive genes, reflexes, research, skull, thyroid gland, variation Identifier(s) : Alsatian, animal breed, animal breeds, ductless glands, heritable characters, hypophysis, parathyroid gland, pituitary gland, recessives, studies, thyroid, United States of America Geographical Location(s) : Belgium, Massachusetts, USA Broader term(s) : dogs, Canis, Canidae, Fissipeda, carnivores, mammals, vertebrates animals, eukaryotes, Benelux, Developed Countries, European Union Countries, OECD Countries Western Europe, Europe, New England States of USA, Northeastern States of USA countries, North America, America type and endocrine histology. Sections VI and VII (James and Anderson, respectively) deal with the relations between form and behaviour, and between endocrine activity and behaviour, the animals classified by means of conditioned reflexes. The breeds were found to differ, and the hybrids showed a certain amount of hereditary determination of behaviour type. The genetical treatment of the results, however, is such that the reviewer is unable to form any opinion upon the rather far-reaching conclusions of Section VI. On the whole, the present monograph contains a tremendous amount of extremely useful, though rather raw, material for everyone who is interested in problems of mammalian genetics. G. PONTECORVO.