*168 APPENDIX. 



the colt, and of witnessing how correctly they agreed with 

 the description given of them by Lord Morton." ^ 



In considering this case, the question at once arises, 

 •Were the quagga-like markings of the colt and filly due to 

 the mare having been infected by the qnagga, or were 

 they due to reversion — to the reappearance of certain 

 ancestral characters ? To this question a final answer has 

 not yet been given. 



Quagga-like bands are often seen on the shoulders 

 and legs of horses. I have before me a photograph of a 

 Norwegian pony taken some days ago, which shows four 

 distinct bands on the shoulder, in addition to the dorsal 

 stripe, and distinct bands on the neck and trunk. 



Darwin, after devoting much attention to the occurrence 

 of bands on horses, states that '^ in all parts of the world 

 stripes of a dark colour frequently appear along the spine, 

 across the legs, and on the shoulders, where they are 

 occasionally double or treble, and even sometimes on the 

 face and body, of all breeds of horses, and of all colours." t 



Nevertheless, after discussing at some length Lord 

 Morton's case, he concludes by saying, '^ there can be no 

 doubt that the quagga affected the character of the offspring 

 subsequently got by the black Arabian horse." J 



Since Lord Morton's letter was published, numerous 

 cases of supposed "infection of the germ " have been put 

 on record, and quite recently a keen discussion on telegony 

 has been carried on in the pages of the Contemporary 

 Review between Weismann, Herbert Spencer, and Romanes. 



Spencer firmly believes in telegony, and sets forth at 

 considerable length how the germ -cells are infected. He 

 apparently believes that as the embryo develops, germ- 

 plasm passes from it into, and becomes a permanent part 

 of, the body of the parent, and that later some of this germ- 

 plasm everywhere diffused reaches and is incorporated in 



* 'Philosophical Transactions,' 1820, p. 21. 

 t ' Animals and Plants,' vol. ii, p. 15. 

 i Ibid., vol. i, p. 435. 



