Evening star., 1940-06-20
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

By Thomas r. Henry.
Mating coach dogs for pups that will
inherit from their parents not only the
inclination to run underneath a carriage
but to run in a single position has Just
been reported to the American Genetics
Association by Drs. Clyde 4. Keeler
and Harry c. Trimble of the Wistar
Institute.
1t is described as the most remarkable
case of inheritance of behavior in q
higher animal yet known to science A
mother who always ran in such position
that her nose nearly touched one Of the
hind legs Of the horse was mated with
another dog with the same preference.
Their pups, without training, took up
exactly the same position. Matings be-
tween parents only one of which pre-
ferred certain position resulted in pups
without any particular preference, but
all with the family trait of running under
carriages
For more than century on English
and American estates, the two scientists
explain. coach dogs have been carefully
selected for this particular tendency and
some breeders say that they have never
known an animal OF this variety without
the desire to get under a vehicle. A good
deal OF training usually is necessary but,
they say, IAN unframed animal of good
stock may occasionally break from his
leash when a carriage goes by. not to
chase the horses but to run happily
under the carriage where he feels he
belongs. This instructive reaction may
frequently take place in six-month -old
dogs but occasionally does so in much
younger individuals
"A very serious puppy OF two-and-a-
half months is known to have felt the
coaching urge so strongly that he forsook
his playmates one day when a lawn was
being graded in order to paddle solemnly
along under the wheelbarrow. Some
breeders say that it is the dogs inordi-
nate love for horses that makes them
want to follow closely at their heels, and
that they desire to be with horses In
their stalls, which situation has no appeal
for other canine breeds. Many coach
dogs, II given an opportunity to choose
whether they want to live at the house
with men or at the stable with horses
prefer the horses
Yet merely the tendency to run under
vehicle or follow a horse is not the
only characteristic Of this mental trait
which Is inherited. We have gathered
data to show that coach dogs differ
individually with respect to the precise
position which they take in running
under a carriage when choice is per-
mitted. One dog enjoys the front axle
position when a team was driven but
when the old coach -and-four numbered
out OF the stable he always took a pre-
carious position under the pole, COM
pletely boxed in by the two lead and
the two pole horses. At turns in the
road he left his box through the open
side, cautiously slipping back into it
again when the train had Strengthened
out.
Once, in certain parade, a band
Immediately preceded the coach This
extremely forward dog forgot himself
and marched behind the band in front
of the lead horses. Other coach dogs in
the same parade stuck to their normal
positions.
''In large kennel of coach dogs which
we have been permitted to study it has
been the practice for more than rs years
to train the animals to follow horses and
run under carriages. Training usually
began shortly after the dogs were six
months old. In the beginning q pup
would be taken out with its collar
fastened to that of 4 trained dog and
the pair led behind carriage at gradu-
ally increased rates of speed. In most
instances the leash would be omitted in
q short time and the neophytes then
were permitted to seek the particular
positions for running which suited them
best. 1t has been observed through all
this long period that dogs did have tndi-
vldual preferences for certain positions
and that they always sought these same
places"
This, the scientists point out. gave
them ideal material for their inheritance
study. The inherited trait follows in
general, they say, the line of Mendelian
inheritance although with various COM
plications which remain to be explained,
The report is published in the current
issue of the Journal of Heredity, which
also contains report of turning tomato
blossoms from yellow to white by sub
jecting the seeds to x-radiation. X-rayine
seeds has been practiced for some years
as means of squirting growth and also
for the possibility of producing varieties
which do not exist in nature. Ordinarily
any variation is such as will kill the
plant
In this case, however, the plants were
healthy, bore exactly the same kind of
fruit as the others, and differed only in
the single particular of bearing yellow
blossoms. They produced seed that also
gave rise to plants with yellow blossoms.
This is considered the first case where
the color Of a flower has been changed
by means of other than crossing varieties.
Taxes on Low Salaries
Opposed As Unfair.