EFFECTS OF AMPHIMIXIS ON ONTOGENY 29 1 



these family characters were prominent ; but similar observa- 

 tions with regard to animals lead to the conclusion that they are 

 not a// due to chance. 



The phenomenon which breeders describe as '■individual 

 prepotency^ comes under this category. It seems that a marked 

 tendency occasionally exists in certain individuals to transmit 

 their special individual characters to the majority of the off- 

 spring. It has often been observed that individual horses, 

 cattle, sheep, and other domestic animals possess this capacity 

 in a high degree ; and breeders pay enormous prices for such 

 individuals, which must, it is true, excel not only as regards this 

 supposed special power of transmission, but also in respect of 

 certain particular and desirable characters. It is, however, 

 believed that similar observations have also been made with 

 regard to plants. Vilmorin,* one of the most eminent raisers 

 of plants, at any rate distinguished in his experiments between 

 individuals possessing the capacity of transmitting their own 

 characters to the offspring in a greater and in a lesser degree. 

 The former he called ' bons etaloHs," and made use of them alone 

 for purposes of propagation. He could not, however, find out 

 by a mere examination of the plant whether it belonged to tliis 

 preferred group. This could only be ascertained by examining 

 the offspring, which therefore served as the guides in the selec- 

 tion of the plants for purposes of propagation. 



Darwin.f Prosper Lucas, :j: and Settegast§ give many instances 

 of this kind, one of the best known of which is that of the ' otter 

 sheep.' This race was descended from a ram which was remark- 

 able for having short, crooked legs and a long body. It trans- 

 mitted this peculiarity to many of its descendants, and so 

 enabled the owner to breed a special race of sheep with crooked 

 legs, the advantage of this peculiarity being that they were 

 unable to leap over fences. Similarly, English thoroughbred 



♦Quoted from de Vries, loc. cit. p. 88. — L. Leveque de Vilmorin, 

 ' Notices sur I'amelioration des plantes par le semis,' Nouvelle edition, 

 1886, p. 44. 



t Darwin, 'Animals and Plants under Domestication,' Vol. II., p. 40, 

 et seq., London, 1888. 



X Prosper Lucas, ' Traite philosophique et physiologique de I'heredite 

 naturelle dans les etats de sante et de maladie du systdme nerveux,' Paris, 

 1850. 



\ Settegast, ' Die Thierzucht," Breslau, 1878, p. 197. 



