136 TELEGONY AND REVERSION. 



breed." "^ In otlier words, Sir Everett was evidently not 

 prepared to admit that " infection " might lead to the subse- 

 quent progeny resembling a remote ancestor — " the original 

 source of the breed." 



In support of my statement that the previous sire has 

 been hitherto taken as the standard for comparison rather 

 than a remote ancestor, the following cases may be cited : 



(a) A black and white sow which had offspring to a 

 chestnut-coloured wild boar had afterwards a litter to a 

 boar of her own breed, some of which were marked with 

 chestnut, t 



(6) A dachshund which had a litter to a sheep-dog had 

 afterwards pups to a pure dachshund ; the second and third 

 years' produce resembled the sheep-dog as much as the 

 dachshund sire. J 



(c) An ordinary cat had kittens to a tailless Manx cat, 

 and then to a cat of her own kind ; several of the second 

 litter of kittens were tailless. § 



{(l) " Blair Athol," a blaze-faced chestnut horse, accord- 

 ing to various writers " infected " the mares that bred to 

 him, with the result that some of these mares produced 

 Blair Athol like foals to "Wild Oats"— ''the last horse 

 in the world to get stock of a similar stamp," i. e. to get 

 Blair Athol like foals. 1| 



If a telegonous foal resembled, as has generally been 

 assumed, the previous sire, while an atavistic foal of neces- 

 sity takes after a more or less remote ancestor, it would 

 be comparatively easy in many cases to say whether in- 

 fection had taken place, to decide on the lines adopted by 

 Sir Everett Millais in the case of Mr. Chalmers Mitchell's 

 fox terrier. If, on the other hand, the result of " infec- 

 tion " is identical as far as it goes with the result of rever- 



* Tlie Field, Nov. 2Stli, 1896. 

 t 'Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc.,' 1821, p. 21. 

 + Herbert Spencer, Contemp. Review, May, 1893. 

 § Joum. des Bebats, Sept. 9tli, 1897. 



II The Sportsman, Jan. 3rd and Feb. 29ll), 1896, letters by the "Special 

 Commissioner." 



