2o8 THE HISTORY OF CKEATION. 



existed for many generations, but belongs to a generation 

 which lias long since disappeared. One of the most remark- 

 able instances of this kind is the fact that in some horses 

 there sometimes appear singular dark stripes, similar to 

 those of the zebra, quagga, and other wild species of 

 African horses. Domestic horses of the most different races 

 and of all colours sometimes show such dark stripes ; for ex- 

 ample, a stripe along the back, a stripe across the shoulders, 

 and the like. The sudden appearance of these stripes can 

 only be explained by the supposition that it is the effect of 

 a latent transmission, a relapse into the ancient original 

 form, which has long since vanished, and was once common, 

 to all species of horses ; the original form, undoubtedly, was 

 originally striped like the zebras, quaggas, etc. In like 

 manner, certain qualities in other domestic animals some- 

 times appear quite suddenly, which once marked their 

 wild ancestors, now long since extinct. In plants, also, such 

 a relapse can be observed very frequently. All my readers 

 probably know the wild yellow toad-flax (Linaria vulgaris), 

 a plant very common in our fields and hedges. Its dragon- 

 mouthed yellow flower contains two long and two short 

 stamens. But sometimes there appears a single blossom 

 (Peloria) which is funnel-shaped, and quite regularly com- 

 posed of five individual and equal sections, with five corre- 

 sponding stamens. This Peloria can only be explained as a 

 relapse into the long since extinct and very ancient common 

 form of all those plants which, like the toad-flax, possess 

 dragon-mouthed, two-lipped flowers, with two long and two 

 short stamens. The original form, like the Peloria, pos- 

 sessed a regular five-spurred blossom, with five equal 

 stamens, which only later and by degrees have become 



