72 



On page 319, Vol. ii, Animals and Plants, &c, it is 

 amusing to remark, with what an air of judicial im- 

 partiality, he insinuates, that there are characters inde- 

 pendent of reversion. 



* * * "It is probable," says he, "that the cross- 

 ing of two forms, when one or both have long been 

 domesticated or cultivated, adds to the variability of 

 the offspring, independently of the commingling of the 

 characters derived from the two parent forms, and 

 this implies that new characters actually arise." 



The implication is, merely, that they are new to 

 either of the crossed breeds ; and upon this construc- 

 tion, Darwin is right. It is evident, too, that this is 

 the idea he had in his mind. But, the idea he evi- 

 dently desires to convey, under the shadow of the 

 double meaning of which his words are susceptible, is 

 that they are new to the given species ; an idea, which 

 he is ever intent upon insinuating, and an idea which 

 is absolutely essential to the support of his theory. 

 Mark the tone of the following sentence — a tone which 

 is ingeniously calculated to convey to the readers' 

 minds, the conviction that they may place implicit 

 confidence in him, and count most securely upon his 

 duly qualifying his remarks, and upon his not over- 

 stating the strength of the evidence he adduces. 



Continuing : 



" But we must not forget the facts advanced in the 

 thirteenth chapter, which clearly prove that the act of 

 crossing often leads to the reappearance or reversion 

 of long-lost characters ; and in most cases, it would 

 be impossible to distinguish between the reappearance 



