240 ERNEST WAh'KEN. 



iiiented. Hair was present in only very small amount, it was 

 thicker on the top of the head than elsewhere. 



From this account we see that tlie abnormal black young 

 arose in Avliat appears to be a purely spontaneous manner. 

 The parentage was the same in all cases, and the first four 

 oifspring were quite normal, the fifth and sixth were 

 abnormal, the seventh normal, and the eighth and last also 

 abnormal, but in a somewhat lesser degree. Whatever the 

 causes may be that produced the variation they would seem- to 

 have acted through the female, since the offspring of the ram 

 with other ewes at the same time and with the same environ- 

 ment have all been perfectly normal. We have already noted 

 that there was no blood-relationship between the parents. 



A somewhat similar abnormality occurs among the Chil- 

 lingham or park cattle Avhich appear to be the nearest repre- 

 sentatives to the now extinct European wild ox or aurochs. 

 These park cattle are white, and according to E. Lydekker,^ 

 "they usually have the muzzle and the inside of the ears 

 reddish.^' 



In a popular ai'ticle by E. M. Harting in the ' Queen ' news- 

 paper, January 29th, 1910, it is stated that a calf of the white 

 park breed has recently been born in the London Zoological 

 Gardens, and the author says : " The interesting point about the 

 calf is that it is white like the parents. Two calves from this 

 cow were white, then three black ones were born in successive 

 years, and these are now followed by a white one," and 

 further ". . . the occasional occurrence of black calves 

 has long been known in cei'tain herds of park cattle, notably 

 at Vaynor." 



It is not stated whether the skin was in any way pigmented, 

 or whether the hair was normal or scanty in amount. 



In an ordinary black and white ox the epidermis in the 

 regions covered with black hair tends to be slightly pigmented, 

 while such pigmentation is absent in the portions provided 

 with white hair. 



In the case of the abnormal black duiker the small quantity 

 ' R. Lydekker, * Wild Oxen, SlieeiJ and Goats,' London, 1898. 



