Chap. XXVII. 



OP PANGENESIS. 



399 



J) vi* r 



s 





* 



should unite with and cause the development of certain gem- 

 mules— we do not in the least know; but it is the common 

 attribute of most organic beings in which the sexes are separate. 

 The distinction between transmission and development is 

 likewise seen in all ordinary cases of Eeversion ; but before 

 discussing this subject it may be advisable to say a few words 

 on those characters which I have called latent, and which 

 would not be classed under Eeversion in its usual sense. Most 

 or perhaps all, the secondary characters, which appertain to 

 one sex, lie dormant in the other sex; that is, gemmules 

 capable of development into the secondary male sexual characters 

 are included within the female ; and conversely female cha- 

 racters in the male. Why in the female, when her ovaria 

 become diseased or fail to act, certain masculine gemmules 

 become developed, we do not clearly know, any more than why 

 when a young bull is castrated his horns continue growing 

 until they almost resemble those of a cow; or why, when a stag 

 is castrated, the gemmules derived from the antlers of his pro- 

 genitors quite fail to be developed. But in many cases, with 

 variable organic beings, the mutual affinities of the cell's and 

 gemmules become modified, so that parts are transposed -or 

 multiplied ; and it would appear that a slight change in the 

 constitution of an animal, in connection with the state of 

 the reproductive organs, leads to changed affinities in the 

 tissues of various parts of the body. Thus, when male animals 

 first arrive at puberty, and subsequently during each recur- 

 rent season, certain cells or parts acquire an affinity for cer- 

 tain gemmules, which become developed into the secondary 

 masculine characters; but if the reproductive organs be de- 

 stroyed or even temporarily disturbed by changed conditions, 

 these affinities are not excited. Nevertheless, the male, before 

 he arrives at puberty, and during the season when the species 

 does not breed, must include the proper gemmules in a latent 

 state, lhe curious case formerly given of a Hen which assumed 

 the masculine characters, not of her own breed but of a remote 

 progenitor illustrates the connection between latent sexual cha- 

 racters and ordinary reversion. With those animals and plants 

 which habitually produce several forms, as with certain butter- 

 flies described by Mr. Wallace, in which three female forms and 



