SEXUALLY-LIMITED INHERITANCE. 
155 
c* 
XV. 
8 Uc 
Jjj ^ een discussed in some very interesting papers by 
' Wallace, 2 who believes that in almost all cases the 
Cess We variations tended at first to be transmitted 
t ]‘, all y to both sexes ; but that the female was saved, 
o " U gh natural selection, from acquiring the conspicu- 
, -W, of the male, owing to the danger which she 
r iV ^ ms lmve incurred during incubation, 
dil'c 18 vlew necessitates a tedious discussion on a 
f,i point, namely whether the transmission of a 
be r ‘ lc * ei ') which is at first inherited by both sexes, can 
of s p®equently limited in its transmission, by means 
Action, to one sex alone. We must bear in mind, 
Sho,.. 
tio 
Qewn 
4u 
the 
k 
in the preliminary chapter on sexual selec- 
characters which are limited in their de- 
t P’nent to one sex are always latent in the other, 
^agioary illustration will best aid us in seeing 
■ulty of the ease: we may suppose that a 
diffi 
tl U; ( ' U:I ' wished to make a breed of pigeons, in which 
M)i]? aleS alone should be coloured of a pale blue, 
Wj t j 1 tlle females retained their former slaty tint. As 
tiitt l i Igeous characters of all kinds are usually trans- 
to ^ to both sexes equally, the fancier would have 
8 e ‘ •f to convert this latter form of inheritance into 
^''limited transmission. All that he could do 
to persevere in selecting every male pigeon 
Was iu the least degree of a paler blue ; and the 
Mi* 41 
a ] 0 r esult of this process, if steadily carried on for 
time > au( l if the pale variations were strongly 
str J(: .j! 11,-11 or often recuri'ed, would be to make his whole 
p e ll i°^ a ^‘S'bter blue. But our fancier would be com- 
bing 1 match, generation after generation, his pale 
with slaty females, for he wishes to keep the 
* hi 
>8, p^tminster Review,' July, 1867. ‘ Journal of Travel,’ vol. 
