208 THE HISTORY OF CREATION. 
existed for many generations, but belongs to a generation 
which has long since disappeared. One of the most remark- 
able instances of this kind is the fact that in some horses 
there sometimes appear singular dark stripes, similar to 
those of the zebra, quagga, and other wild species of 
African horses. Domestic horses of the most different races 
and of all colours sometimes show such dark stripes; for ex- 
ample, a stripe along the back, a stripe across the shoulders, 
and the like. The sudden appearance of these stripes can 
only be explained by the supposition that it is the effect of 
a latent transmission, a relapse into the ancient original 
form, which has long since vanished, and was once common 
to all species of horses; the original form, undoubtedly, was 
originally striped like the zebras, quaggas, ete. In like 
manner, certain qualities in other domestic animals some- 
times appear quite suddenly, which once marked their 
wild ancestors, now long since extinct. In plants, also, such 
a relapse can be observed very frequently. All my readers 
probably know the wild yellow toad-flax (Linaria vulgaris), 
a plant very common in our fields and hedges. Its dragon- 
mouthed yellow flower contains two long and two short 
stamens. But sometimes there appears a single blossom 
(Peloria) which is funnel-shaped, and quite regularly com- 
posed of five individual and equal sections, with five corre- 
sponding stamens. This Peloria can only be explained as a 
relapse into the long since extinct and very ancient common 
form of all those plants which, like the toad-flax, possess 
dragon-mouthed, two-lipped flowers, with two long and two 
short stamens. The original form, like the Peloria, pos- 
sessed a regular five-spurred blossom, with five equal 
stamens, which only later and by degrees have become 
