8o ZEBRAS, HORSES, AND HYBRIDS 



subject, a word or two may be said about Mr. Herbert 

 Spencer's theory of the mode in which telegony, in 

 which he firmly believed, is brought about. He sug- 

 gested that some 'germ-plasm' passes from the embryo 

 into the mother and becomes a permanent part of her 

 body, and that this is diffused throughout her whole 

 structure until it affects, amongst other organs, the 

 reproductive glands. This view, which in some 

 respects recalls the pangenesis of Darwin, is inter- 

 mediate between the saturation and the infection 

 hypotheses. Professor Ewart refers to it as ' indirect 

 infection.' 



Weismann, to whom we owe the term telegony, 

 came to consider the facts for and against its existence 

 in connexion with his well-known inquiry into the 

 inheritance of acquired characters. If telegony be 

 true, there is no need to look further for a clear case 

 of the inheritance of a character which has been 

 acquired during the lifetime of the parent. The 

 quagga-ness — if one may be permitted to use such 

 an expression — of Lord Morton's mare was acquired 

 when she was put to the quagga or shortly afterwards, 

 and was transmitted to her foals. A clearer case of a 

 character acquired during lifetime and transmitted to 

 offspring could not be imagined. Weismann does not 

 absolutely deny the possibility of the existence of tele- 

 gony, but he would like more evidence. In the Con- 

 temporary Review he writes : ' I must say that to this 

 day, and in spite of the additional cases brought for- 

 ward by Spencer and Romanes, I do not consider that 

 telegony has been proved.' And further : ' I should 

 accept a case like that of Lord Morton's mare as satis- 

 factory evidence if it were quite certainly beyond 

 doubt. But that is by no means the case, as Settegast 

 has abundantly proved.' He would, in fact, refer the 

 case to reversion, and quotes Settegast to the effect 

 that every horse-breeder is well aware that the cases 



