The expression of the emotions in man and animals / by Charles Darwin ; edited by Francis Darwin.
- Charles Darwin
- Date:
- 1904
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The expression of the emotions in man and animals / by Charles Darwin ; edited by Francis Darwin. Source: Wellcome Collection.
42/458 page 30
![cantering and ambling, which are not natural to them,— in the pointing of young pointers and the setting of young setters—in the peculiar manner of flight of certain breeds of the pigeon, &c. We have analogous cases with mankind in the inheritance of tricks or unusual gestures, to which we shall presently recur. To those who admit the gradual evolution of species, a most striking instance of the perfection with which the most difficult con¬ sensual movements can be transmitted, is afforded by the humming-bird Sphinx-moth (Macroglossa); for this moth, shortly after its emergence from the cocoon, as shown by the bloom on its unruffled scales, may be seen poised stationary in the air, with its long hair-like proboscis uncurled and inserted into the minute orifices of flowers; and no one, I believe, has ever seen this moth learning to perform its difficult task, wdiich requires such unerring aim. When there exists an inherited or instinctive tendency to the performance of an action, or an inherited taste for certain kinds of food, some degree of habit in the individual is often or generally requisite. We find this in the paces of the horse, and to a certain extent in the pointing of dogs ; although some young dogs point excellently the first time they are taken out, yet they often associate the proper inherited attitude with a wrong odour, and even with eyesight. I have heard it asserted that if a calf be allowed to suck its mother only once, it is much more difficult afterwards to rear it by hand.3 3 A remark to much the same effect was made long ago by Hippo¬ crates and by the illustrious Harvey; for both assert that a young animal forgets in the course of a few days the art of sucking, and cannot without some difficulty again acquire it. I give these asser¬ tions on the authority of Dr. Darwin, ‘Zoonomia,’ 1794, vol. i. p.140. [Confirmed by Dr. Stanley Haynes, in a letter to the author.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b31346686_0042.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
