PHENOMENA OF INHERITANCE 229 



markings of the wild rock pigeon from which 

 domestic pigeons are presumably descended. 

 He described many cases of dogs, cattle and 

 swine, as well as many cultivated plants, in 

 which offspring resembled distant ancestors 

 and differed from nearer ones ; such cases had 

 long been known and were spoken of as "re- 

 versions." He observed many cases in which 

 certain characters of one parent prevailed over 

 corresponding characters of the other parent 

 in the offspring, this being known as "pre- 

 potency"; but there was no satisfactory ex- 

 planation of these curious phenomena. They 

 did not come under either of Galton's laws, 

 and their occurrence was apparently so ir- 

 regular that every such case seemed to be a 

 law unto itself. 



