GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XXXI 



as a rule inbred. Hence, from an extreme cross with 

 a Dalmatian, instead of wolf-coloured or even whole- 

 coloured offspring, we should expect the progeny to 

 approach in colour the Dalmatian's less remote ancestors, 

 i. e. we can only look for partial reversion. I crossed a 

 Dalmatian (one of the lighter varieties) with a well-bred 

 sable collie, and obtained three pups. The pups (which 

 died when quite young and were preserved in spirit) 

 neither resemble young collies nor young Dalmatians, but 

 rather suggest young pointers or foxhounds. The ground 

 colour is nearly white in all three ; in two there are five 

 large dark brown blotches, in one four lemon-coloured 

 patches. This seems to be a case of reversion towards 

 the medieeval ancestors of the Dalmatian. 



4. Rabbits. — During the present summer I have bred 

 a large number of white rabbits by mating ordinary white 

 does with a smooth-coated buck. With two exceptions 

 all the young have resembled their parents. The one 

 resembles an Angora, the other as closely resembles a 

 Himalaya rabbit. The Angora might be looked upon as a 

 " freak ;" or seeing that it is the only one out of well- 

 nigh fifty rabbits by the white buck, it might be accounted 

 for by saying the doe must have numbered a long-haired 

 rabbit amongst her ancestors. The real explanation 

 doubtless is that the sire of this exceptional rabbit was 

 bred from an Angora rabbit, i. e. the long-haired rabbit 

 is, as far as external characters go, an exact reproduction 

 of its paternal grandmother. The restored " Angora ''' 

 is not so much interesting because the reversion is, as 

 far as it goes, complete, but because only one out of 

 nearly fifty rabbits by the same buck showed any signs 

 of reversion. I know of a similar case of reversion in 

 the human family. A man, decidedly lighter than an 

 octoroon, married a fair English woman. Of their two 

 children, one is like the mother, the other is quite as dark 

 as a mulatto. 



The " restored " Himalaya is even more interesting 

 than the Angora. It exactly reproduces the maternal 

 great-grandmother. But as one of the sisters of the sire 



