SUMMARY OF ALTERNATIVES 117 



children. With a virile middle-aged father and a much younger 

 mother, the older children may be markedly paternal in the 

 expression of their inheritance, the younger children as markedly 

 of the maternal type. The Benjamin is the mother's very 

 image, and after the father's own heart. 



Prof. Cossar Ewart records the case of a very young pigeon 

 of hooded or frilled breed which was mated with an old one 

 not decorated with hood or frill. The result was that the 

 first young were smooth-headed and smooth-breasted, but 

 those of later broods had the specialised characteristics of the 

 mother. 



Similarly, the first fertilised, almost immature ova of a rabbit, 

 liberated by an ovulation subsequent to the first pairing, resulted 

 in offspring which took after the male. If, on the other hand, 

 a doe is served, not at the right time, but a week or ten days 

 later, the young are all exactly like the mother. 



Such facts point to the conclusion that the expression of 

 inheritance follows the parent whose germ-cells are the riper at 

 the time of fertilisation — an inference to which we shall return 

 in discussing germinal selection. 



The inference is further supported by Vernon's experiments 

 in the hybridisation of sea-urchins, for he showed that the 

 characters of the offspring incline to be those of the species 

 whose gametes were relatively the more mature when fertilisation 

 occurred. 



§ 6. Summary oj Alternatives 



When parents of different species, varieties, or stocks are 

 crossed, the progeny is usually referable to one of the following 

 categories : — 



(i) It may be a combination of the paternal and maternal 

 characteristics, either (A) an intimate blend, or (B) a blend with 

 preponderance in favour of either parent, or (C) a particulate com- 



