Chap. IX.] HYBRIDS AND MONGRELS COMPARED. 43 



the hinny, which is the offspring of the female ass and 

 stallion. 



Much stress has been laid hy some authors on the 

 supposed fact, that it is only with mongrels that the 

 offspring are not intermediate in character, but closely 

 resemble one of their parents; but this does sometimes 

 occur with hybrids, yet I grant much less frequently 

 than with mongrels. Looking to the cases which I 

 have collected of cross-bred animals closely resembling 

 one parent, the resemblances seem chiefly confined to 

 characters almost monstrous in their nature, and which 

 have suddenly appeared — such as albinism, melanism, 

 deficiency of tail or horns, or additional fingers and 

 toes; and do not relate to characters which have been 

 slowly acquired through selection. A tendency to sud- 

 den reversions to the perfect character of either parent 

 would, also, be much more likely to occur with mon- 

 grels, which are descended from varieties often sud- 

 denly produced and semi-monstrous in character, than 

 with hybrids, which are descended from species slowly 

 and naturally produced. On the whole, I entirely 

 agree with Dr. Prosper Lucas, who, after arranging an 

 enormous body of facts with respect to animals, comes 

 to the conclusion that the laws of resemblance of the 

 child to its parents are the same, whether the two 

 parents differ little or much from each other, namely, 

 in the union of individuals of the same variety, or of 

 different varieties, or of distinct species. 



Independently of the question of fertility and steril- 

 ity, in all other respects there seems to be a general and 

 close similarity in the offspring of crossed species, and 

 of crossed varieties. If we look at species as having 

 been specially created, and at varieties as having been 



