I can only repeat my assurance, that I do not speak without good evidence.
INHERITED CHANGES OF HABIT OR INSTINCT IN DOMESTICATED ANIMALS.
The possibility, or even probability, of inherited variations of instinct in a state of nature will be strengthened by briefly considering a few cases under domestication.

We shall thus be enabled to see the part which habit and the selection of so-called spontaneous variations have played in modifying the mental qualities of our domestic animals.

It is notorious how much domestic animals vary in their mental qualities.

With cats, for instance, one naturally takes to catching rats, and another mice, and these tendencies are known to be inherited.
One cat, according to Mr.St.John, always brought home game birds, another hares or rabbits, and another hunted on marshy ground and almost nightly caught woodcocks or snipes.

A number of curious and authentic instances could be given of various shades of disposition and taste, and likewise of the oddest tricks, associated with certain frames of mind or periods of time.