SUGGESTED EXPLANATIONS 151 



much. As Pearson observes (1900, p. 462), " should it occur 

 once in a hundred trials we are hardly likely just to hit upon 

 the successful instance." 



§ 5. Suggestions which explain away Telegony 



(a) It has been repeatedly suggested, by those who do not 

 believe in the reality of telegonic influence, that the phenomena 

 are simply illustrations of reversion. A normal cat has kittens 

 to a Manx cat, and afterwards to a normal cat. In the second 

 litter some are tail-less. " It does not follow, however, that some 

 of the subsequent kittens were tail-less because their dam had 

 been previously mated with a cat of the Manx breed. . . . 

 The most likely explanation is that tail-less individuals occurred 

 in the ancestry of one or both of the parents ; in other words, 

 the absence of the tail is due to reversion to an ancestor " 

 (J. Cossar Ewart, Trans. Highland and Agricultural Society of 

 Scotland, 190 1). 



This view amounts to denying telegony in the strict sense. 

 We are asked to believe that there is no causal nexus between 

 the previous sire and the subsequent offspring who resemble 

 him. They happen to resemble him because he resembled one 

 of their ancestors. This seems to us easier than believing in 

 telegony. 



The plausibility of this explanation will vary in different cases. 

 Thus Finn points out that the occurrence of feather-legged fowls 

 in a pure Dorking breed, or of polled lambs from black-faced 

 horned ewes, cannot be set down to reversion, " feather-legged 

 fowls and polled sheep not being ancestral types." 



(b) It has also been suggested that the subsequent offspring 

 have accidentally varied in the direction of resemblance to the 

 previous sire. The resemblance is a mere coincidence. As 

 the reliable facts are few and far between, there is much to be 

 said for this view. 



