TELEGONY AND REVERSION. 61 



discussed at some length the possible methods by which 

 the "infection" was brought about. 



Of quite recent writers, Herbert Spencer has felt most 

 satisfied as to the fact of telegony. In a series of papers 

 in the Contempurary Review,^ in which telegony has prac- 

 tically been taken for granted, Spencer has especially con- 

 cerned himself with finding an explanation of the pheno- 

 menon. Spencer thinks that the evidence he submits by 

 " coming from those who have no theory to support, dis- 

 sipates all doubt," and he endeavours, as will be further 

 explained below, to account for telegony by supposing that 

 germ-plasm from the embryo reaches and " infects " the 

 maturing ova through the tissues of the dam. 



The late Mr. Romanes (whose telegony experiments were 

 abruptly cut short by his untimely and widely lamented 

 death), in a reply to Mr. Herbert Spencer says, " On the 

 present occasion space does not admit of giving special 

 instances, so I must ask it to be taken for granted that 

 my evidence is enough to prove the fact of a previous 

 sire asserting his influence on a subsequent pi'ogeny."t 

 Elsewhere,! on giving the upshot of an extensive corre- 

 spondence on the subject under consideration, Romanes 

 states that " the principal result is to show that the phe- 

 nomenon is of much less frequent occurrence than is gene- 

 rally supposed. Indeed, it is so rare that I doubt whether 

 it takes place in more than one or two per cent, of cases." 



Before stating the view Weismann holds as to " infec- 

 tion " I perhaps ought to indicate what English breedei-s 

 think about the subject. This will be best accomplished 

 by the following quotations from two letters which appeared 

 in TJie Sportsman early in 1896. The writer of the letters 

 (the "Special Commissioner " to The Sportsman) is, I under- 

 stand, one of the most influential men in racing circles in 

 England. In a letter dated January 3rd, 1896, the " Special 

 Commissioner " says, " There would seem to be gentlemen 



* Vol. kiv. 



t Conteni'porary Review, April, 1S93. 



X ' An Examination of Weisnianniim,' 1S93, App. 2, p. 199. 



