Liability to the attacks of parasites is also connected with colour. White
chickens are certainly more subject than dark-coloured chickens to the
"gapes," which is caused by a parasitic worm in the trachea. (21/10.
'Gardener's Chronicle' 1856 page 379.) On the other hand, experience has shown
that in France the caterpillars which produce white cocoons resist the deadly
fungus better than those producing yellow cocoons. (21/11. Quatrefages
'Maladies Actuelles du Ver a Soie' 1859 pages 12, 214.) Analogous facts have
been observed with plants: a new and beautiful white onion, imported from
France, though planted close to other kinds, was alone attacked by a parasitic
fungus. (21/12. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1851 page 595.) White verbenas are
especially liable to mildew. (21/13. 'Journal of Horticulture' 1862 page 476.)
Near Malaga, during an early period of the vine-disease, the green sorts
suffered most; "and red and black grapes, even when interwoven with the sick
plants, suffered not at all." In France whole groups of varieties were
comparatively free, and others, such as the Chasselas, did not afford a single
fortunate exception; but I do not know whether any correlation between colour
and liability to disease was here observed. (21/14. 'Gardener's Chronicle'
1852 pages 435, 691.) In a former chapter it was shown how curiously liable
one variety of the strawberry is to mildew.
It is certain that insects regulate in many cases the range and even the
existence of the higher animals, whilst living under their natural conditions.
Under domestication light-coloured animals suffer most: in Thuringia (21/15.
Bechstein 'Naturgesch. Deutschlands' 1801 b. 1 s. 310.) the inhabitants do not
like grey, white, or pale cattle, because they are much more troubled by
various kinds of flies than the brown, red, or black cattle. An Albino negro,
it has been remarked (21/16. Prichard 'Phys. Hist. of Mankind' 1851 volume 1
page 224.), was peculiarly sensitive to the bites of insects. In the West
Indies (21/17. G. Lewis 'Journal of Residence in West Indies' 'Home and Col.
Library' page 100.) it is said that "the only horned cattle fit for work are
those which have a good deal of black in them. The white are terribly
tormented by the insects; and they are weak and sluggish in proportion to the
white."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account