Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-25

addition to those of usua! size. In some
cases these were barely perceptible, and
In none We're they larger than good-sized
plmples Upon looking farther found that
the ewes bearing the embryonic nipples had
Tar more twins than those not so marked.
VI the ordinary ewes only "a per cent were
twin bearing, while of those which had
these marks of undeveloped milk sup
ply 43 per cent had twins. This seemed to
indicate that the marks meant some thing,
and then began to experiment to find cut
how much"
Queer Breeding Experiments.
PLEASE tell me just what you hoped to
ascertain, DR.. Bell?" 1 asked
In the first place, 1 wanted to find
whether by selective breeding those now
dead embryonic pimple-like nipples could
be made alive and useful. 1 wanted to
know whether they would grow and fill
with milk; and whether, if they did so, the
sneep growing them would yield a
wanted to know whether after had pro
duced sheep with four good live nipples
instead OF two, that sheep would have twins
ottener than sheep not so developed"
What did you find?'
Tn the first place" said DR.. Bell. IT ex-
perienced little difficulty in developing the
embryonic nipples. 1 was soon able to
raise sheep having four nipples all WELD
AiS iiiiih, anu, lNueeQ, Tor several wears
past nearly every eve born on my farm has
lad -FOUR live functional nipples instead of
Two In recent years l have produced a
large number which have six such nipples
ana 1 think there is no doubt but that
could eventually produce a sx-nippIed va
rlety OF sheep. Indeed, have already pro-
duced a four-nippled variety. OF the lambs
dropped this year eight have SIX nipples
ana IN addltion we have now. for the first
time, lamb with eight nipples This ia
the only one Of that character that 1 have
produced and the only one 1 have ever
heard Of"
The Question of Twins.
How about the twins, doctor" I asked
AS to that part of my investigations I
have not been so successful" 1.-THE
proportion Of twins born has been
sn all, and the sheep with the four or
six nipples have not proved more fertile
than those Of the ordinary kind I believe
however, that by using twins only for
breeding purposes it may be possible to
raise twin-bearing stock, and that is what
nope to do now. l feel ithat I have &C.
compnshed what set out to perform as to
my first proposition, and that by using nv
muiti-nippled varieties, and breeding ouly
from twins. will eventually have a breed
twins"
Were these sheep all born ON your
farm"
THE most of them WERE" replied DR..
Bell MY investigations, however have
not been confined to my own sheep I have
catalogue which 1 published In 1904 con-
tanning the records Of about eight hundred
sheep Of which 655 were born on Benin
Bhreagh' the others having been purchased
by me. The catalogue gives a record of
every sheep as to the matters under in
vestgation. and 1t covers our work from
1880 until 1904. In addition. have the rec
ords for 1905 and 1906"
MY search for sheep Of this character"
continued DR.. Bell. was not confined to
my own flock. 1 was anxious for specimens
from other flocks, and gave the butchers of
Baddeck a standing offer of SO for any
six-nippled eve they might bring In. This
oHer has been open for several years, but
1t has resulted In my securing only one such
sheep out of the many thousand they have
handled for killing. and that sheep was
poorly marked. year or so ago I i'm
ported some horned Dorset ewes from
Uxbridge, Ontario. The Dorsets are
very prolific, and each Of them gave me
birth to twins and another to triplets, 30
that l have had nine lambs within two
years from those two ewes. The Dorset
sheep frequently have lambs twice in one
In my attempts to produce a breed Of twin
bearing Sheep"
do you consider the additions you have
made to the milk bag a valuable one?'
r,
Ewes having such bags can raise twins
quite as well as the ordinary sheep can
raise single lamb. Indeed, they are far
more successful with their twins than the
ordinary Sheep"
Tell me something of the experiments
which the Carnegie Institution Is making
with your Sheep"
ut is too soon to know what will be the
result of that work" replied DR.. Bell. "Dr.
Davenport. the head of the Carnegie Insti-
tuition experimental farm, has now one six
IMPLIED ram and two fve-nippled ewes,
which I sent him about a year ago: One
of his ewes is black and the other white.
I recently heard from him to the effect
that the white eve has produced twins,
one Of which has six nipples and the other
four nipples"
New Things in Aerial Navigation.
The conversation here turned to DR.. Bells
most recent experiments in solving the
problems Of aerial navigation. He has
large laboratory on his farm in Nova
Scotia and this work goes on steadily
throughout the summer. He has made
great advances since talked with him
about two years ago. He has dis
covered the unit Of which the flying
machine Of the future Is to be built and
something of the shape in which 1t should
be put together. He has. In short ascer-
tanned the character of his building ma
terial. He now knows that he can make
a body which can be sustained in the
air, and he VIII now experiment on the
motive or propelling power, which will send
such a body along its way through the air
and guide 1t hither and thither at the viii
Of It's engineer.
In a former letter described this unit,
when writing Of DR.. Bells aerial vehicle.
The unit Is of the shape Of tetrahedron.
and when last talked with him such units
were put together around large open spaces.
DR.. Bell now finds that they can be massed
close together, and that they will hy equally
well. In other words he can make almost
any kind Of structure he pleases OF such