It would appear that this mental impression, which is perhaps usually raised at some period of œstrum, always recurs at that period, and is so interwoven with the organisation even, as to become a stamp or mould for some, if not all, of her future progeny. I had a pug bitch whose constant companion was a small and almost _white_ spaniel dog, of Lord Rivers’ breed, of which she was very fond. When it became necessary to separate her, on account of her heat, from this dog, and to confine her with one of her own kind, she pined excessively; and notwithstanding her situation, it was some time before she would admit of the attentions of the pug dog placed with her. At length, however, she did so; impregnation followed, and at the usual period she brought forth five pug puppies, one of which was elegantly _white_, and more _slender_ than the others. The spaniel was soon afterwards given away, but the impression remained; for at two subsequent litters (which were all she had afterwards) she presented me with a _white_ young one, which the fanciers know to be a very rare occurrence. The Rev. R. Lascelles, in his _Letters on Sporting_, p. 250, relates a case of a greyhound bitch, intrusted to the care of a servant, which whelped one perfect greyhound and six complete curs: the curs were the likeness of the dog she domesticated with in common; the single one resembled the greyhound she was taken to during her heat. There is little reason, therefore, to doubt that the bitch had been previously lined by the cur, and the single greyhound pup was the effect of superfœtation. Sportsmen incline to the opinion, that the male pups are more strongly tinctured with the external form of the father than of the mother, and _vice versâ_; but though instances may occur to favour such a conclusion, it is not a uniform occurrence.—_Blaine._ BITE, _v._ To crush or pierce with the teeth; to cut, or wound. BITE, _s._ The seizure of anything by the teeth; the act of a fish that takes the bait; a cheat, a sharper. BITTERN; BOG BUMPER; BITTERN BUM, or MIRE DRUM; (_Ardea Stellaris_, LINN.; _Le Buton_, BUFF.) _s._ A bird with long legs, which feeds upon fish. [Illustration]