310 LAWS OF VARIATION. Chap. XXIV. 



become considerably developed and are furnished with claws. 

 In the common Hen, the spurs and comb are rudimentary, 

 but in certain breeds these become, independently of age or 

 disease of the ovaria, well developed. The stallion has 

 canine teeth, but the mare has only traces of the alveoli, which, 

 as I am informed by the eminent veterinarian Mr. G. T. Brown, 

 frequently contain minute irregular nodules of bone. These 

 nodules, however, sometimes become developed into imperfect 

 teeth, protruding through the gums and coated with enamel ; 

 and occasionally they grow to a fourth or even a third of the 

 length of the canines in the stallion. With plants I do not 

 know whether the redevelopment of rudimentary organs 

 occurs more frequently under culture than under nature. 

 Perhaps the pear-tree may be a case in point, for when wild 

 it bears thorns, which consist of branches in a rudimentary 

 condition and serve as a protection, but, when the tree is 

 cultivated, they are reconverted into branches. 



