396 
“ Hunter long ago observed that the muscular coat of the stomach 
of a gull (Lancs tridactylus) which had been fed for a year chiefly on 
grain, was thickened ; and, according to Dr.'Edmondston, a similar 
change periodically occurs in the Shetland Islands in the stomach of 
the Larus argentatus, which in the spring frequents the corn-fields 
and feeds on the seed. The same careful observer has noticed 
a great change in the stomach of a raven which had been long fed on 
vegetable food. In the case of an owl (Strix grallaria) similarly 
treated, Menetries states that the form of the stomach was changed, 
the inner coat became leathery, and the liver increased in size. 
Whether these modifications in the digestive organs would in the 
course of generations become inherited is not known.”—(The 
Variation, vol. ii., ft. 302.) 
“ Professor Bailey observes :—‘ Squashes often show remarkable 
differences when grown upon different soils, and these differences 
can sometimes be perpetuated for a time by seeds. The writer has 
produced from the same parent squashes so dissimilar, through the 
simple agency of a change of soil, in one season, that they might 
readily be taken for distinct varieties.’”—{Natural Science, vol. i., 
ft. 176.) 
“A number of pupae were brought, in 1870, to Switzerland from 
Texas of a species of Saturnia, widely different from European 
species. In May, 1871, the moths developed out of the cocoons 
(which had spent the winter in Switzerland) and resembled entirely 
the Texan species. Their young were fed on leaves of Juglans regia 
(the Texan form feeding on Juglans nigra), and they changed into 
moths so different, not only in colour, but also in form, from their 
parents, that they were reckoned by entomologists as a distinct 
species.”—(Beddard. Animal Coloration, ft ft. 31-2.) 
“Mr. Ramsey Cox writes as follows:—We captured, in the New 
Forest, a number of half-grown larvae of the Peacock butterfly, 
which were carefully fed for a few days (and then, through oversight, 
were) ‘ left several days without food. . . . Very few died. . . . 
Nearly all the imagos were, of course, rather small; they varied 
much in the intensity of their colouring, and two specimens are 
very singularly marked. In one, the yellow costal spot is only repre 
sented by a very small white mark. There is scarcely any yellow 
in the ocellus, a large part of which is filled up with black ; the 
usual chocolate patch in it is also black. The chocolate ground 
colour is also darker than usual. In the hind wing the ocellus con 
tains only two small round violet spots.’”—(Ibid. ft. 30.) 
There can be no doubt, then, that in some cases the 
organism of some individuals undergoes more or less