[BP] Latency is here neglected. Mr. Francis Galton has shown, statistically, that the offspring, among human folk, inherit 1/4 from each parent, 1/16 from each grandparent, and the remaining 1/4 from more remote ancestors. In domesticated animals, reversion to characters of distant ancestors sometimes occurs. This, however, does not invalidate the argument in the text, which is that sexual admixture tends towards the mean of the race (ancestors included), and cannot be credited with new and unusually favourable variations. The prepotency of one parent is also here neglected. [BQ] See his valuable paper on "Divergent Evolution," Lin. Soc. Zool., No. cxx. [BR] One parthenogenetic form--the drone--has been shown by Blochmann to extrude a second polar cell. This observation is in serious opposition to Dr. Weismann's theory. [BS] Weismann, "Essays on Heredity," pp. 355, 378. [BT] The law of compensation of growth or balancement was suggested at nearly the same time by Goethe and Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire. The application in the text has not, so far as I know, been before suggested. [BU] Darwin spoke of changed conditions acting "directly on the organization or indirectly through the reproductive system." Now, since Professor Weismann has taught us to reconsider these questions, we speak of such conditions as acting directly on the germ or indirectly through the body. The germ is no longer subordinate to the body, but the body to the germ. [BV] July 15, 1876. Since reprinted in "The Advancement of Science," p. 273. [BW] Herbert Spencer, "Principles of Biology," vol. i. p. 256. [BX] Mr. J. A. Thomson has published a most valuable "Synthetic Summary of the Influence of the Environment upon the Organism" (Proceedings Royal Physiological Society, Edinburgh: vol. ix. pt. 3, 1888). The case of the Amazonian parrots was communicated to Darwin by Mr. Wallace ("Animals and Plants under Domestication," vol. ii. p. 269). [BY] St. George Mivart, "On Truth," p. 378. [BZ] _Op. cit._, p. 47. I venture to say, "with some assurance," because Charles Darwin, who had also considered this matter, writes, "Who will pretend to decide how far the thick fur of Arctic animals, or their white colour, is due to the direct action of a severe climate, and how far to the preservation of the best-protected individuals during a long succession of generations?" ("Animals and Plants under Domestication," p. 415). [CA] "Organic Evolution," English translation, p. 88. [CB] "Contributions to Natural Selection," p. 197. [CC] Since this was written, Mr. Poulton has described his results in an interesting volume on "The Colours of Animals" (_q.v._). [CD] See _Journal of Anatomy and Physiology_, vol. xxii. p. 215.