TELEGONY AND REVERSION. 



79 



(Fig". 20). To admit of further comparison witli the liybrids 

 it is necessary that I should also describe at some length 

 the stripes on the body of Matopo. Not only are no two 

 individuals of any given species or vai'iety of zebras alike 

 in their marking, but in no single individual is the pattern 

 the same on both sides.* But notwithstnnding the varia- 

 FiG. i-2. 



Skin, Somali Zebra, 

 tion in individual zebras, and the extreuie cases of varia- 

 tion within the same species, it is possible to recognise 



* As far as I cau learn, want of symmetry in the coloration of plants 

 and animals is comparatively common. On tlie other hand, in plants and 

 probably also in animals, a point is eventually reached in the difCerence of 

 the two sides which is prejudicial to the life of the variety or species. 

 Were not this the case, wild animals would doubtless be as asymmetrical 

 in their coloration as our artiflcially protected domestic animals. While 

 iniercrossinr^ makes for asymmetry, inbreedinj^ seems to lead to symmetry 

 in the markings. Mr. Pnizak tells me the Craddock, an inbred race of 

 mountain zebras, are remarkably symmetrical in their markings. 



