chapter on pangenesis.

On the whole, the subject of prepotency is extremely intricate,--from its
varying so much in strength, even in regard to the same character, in
different animals,--from its running either equally in both sexes, or, as
frequently is the case with animals, but not with plants, much stronger in one
sex than the other,--from the existence of secondary sexual characters,--from
the transmission of certain characters being limited, as we shall immediately
see, by sex,--from certain characters not blending together,--and, perhaps,
occasionally from the effects of a previous fertilisation on the mother. It is
therefore not surprising that no one has hitherto succeeded in drawing up
general rules on the subject of prepotency.

INHERITANCE AS LIMITED BY SEX.

New characters often appear in one sex, and are afterwards transmitted to the
same sex, either exclusively or in a much greater degree than to the other.
This subject is important, because with animals of many kinds in a state of
nature, both high and low in the scale, secondary sexual characters, not
directly connected with the organs of reproduction, are conspicuously present.
With our domesticated animals, characters of this kind often differ widely
from those distinguishing the two sexes of the parent species; and the
principle of inheritance, as limited by sex, explains how this is possible.

[Dr. P. Lucas has shown (14/25. 'L'Hered. Nat.' tome 2 pages 137-165. See also
Mr. Sedgwick's four memoirs, immediately to be referred to.) that when a
peculiarity, in no manner connected with the reproductive organs, appears in
either parent, it is often transmitted exclusively to the offspring of the
same sex, or to a much greater number of them than of the opposite sex. Thus,
in the family of Lambert, the horn-like projections on the skin were