Abstract
EVERY naturalist who has studied the ungulate mammals must have been: struck with the curious variation in the direction of the hair which occurs even in closely-allied species, and has probably been much puzzled to account for these differences. Why, for instance, do the hairs on the back of all the Asiatic buffaloes point towards the head and those of their African allies in the opposite direction? In the former animals, as in all analogous instances, a whorl (in this case on the haunches) marks the point where the change in the direction of the hairs from the normal backward slope occurs. In the work before us the author, although he has not attempted to give a reason for the variation in the hair-slope of closely allied species, has done good service by classifying these “whorls” and “featherings,” as typified in the horse. He has also shown that these features always occur at spots where two or more muscles are acting against one another, as is well exemplified on the forehead of the horse. It is therefore suggested that the production of such whorls has a dynamical origin. It is noteworthy that while whorls and featherings are very commonly developed in short-haired mammals, they are either absent or rudimentary in those with long hair.
Use-Inheritance; Illustrated by the Direction of Hair on the Bodies of Animals.
By W. Kidd. 8vo. pp. 47. Illustrated. (London: A. and C. Black, 1901.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
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L., R. Use-Inheritance; Illustrated by the Direction of Hair on the Bodies of Animals . Nature 65, 4 (1901). https://doi.org/10.1038/065004a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/065004a0