BLASTOGENIC VARIATIONS. 175 



it should be attributed to the conditions of experiment, 

 or to some physiological cause arising in the egg itself. 

 To test this question with some chance of success, the 

 eggs of some species which varies but little ought to 

 be employed; e. g., some wild species. But in this case 

 it would be very difficult to obtain sufficient material. 



In the case of certain Lepidoptera, however, the arti- 

 ficial production of sports has been successfully accom- 

 plished by Standfuss.* By keeping the pupae of V. 

 cardui (Painted Lady) at a high temperature for a 

 short period, he succeeded in producing a small number 

 of specimens of the aberrant form elymi, a form which 

 is occasionally found under natural conditions. Again 

 a low temperature, acting on pupae of V. io (Peacock), 

 produced a variety ab. fischeri, which exhibits a reduc- 

 tion in the number of the blue scales on both fore and 

 hind wings. In these and other characters there 

 seemed to be an approach to the type of V. urticce. 

 These and other observations seem to justify Standfuss' 

 conclusion that many of the aberrations occurring in 

 nature may likewise have arisen through the influence 

 of abnormal temperature conditions. 



Telegony. The term telegony, or so called infection 

 of the germ, is applied to certain cases apparently show- 

 ing the influence of a previous fertilisation on the 

 structure of the subsequent offspring. The test case, 

 always quoted in support of the existence of this phe- 

 nomenon, is that of Lord Morton's mare. This animal 

 bore a hybrid to a quagga, and subsequently produced 

 two colts by a Black Arabian horse. These colts, both 

 in the hair of their manes, their partial dun colour, and 

 *The Entomologist, vol. xxviii. p. 145, 1895. 



