rabbit, with its snow-white body, black ears, nose, tail, and feet,
breeds {41} perfectly true. This race is known to have been formed by
the union of two varieties of silver-grey rabbits. Now, when a
Himalayan doe was crossed by a sandy-coloured buck, a silver-grey
rabbit was produced; and this is evidently a case of reversion to one
of the parent varieties. The young of the Himalayan rabbit are born
snow-white, and the dark marks do not appear until some time
subsequently; but occasionally young Himalayan rabbits are born of a
light silver-grey, which colour soon disappears; so that here we have a
trace of reversion, during an early period of life, to the
parent-varieties, independently of any recent cross.

In the third chapter is was shown that at an ancient period some breeds
of cattle in the wilder parts of Britain were white with dark ears, and
that the cattle now kept half wild in certain parks, and those which
have run quite wild in two distant parts of the world, are likewise
thus coloured. Now, an experienced breeder, Mr. J. Beasley, of
Northamptonshire,[92] crossed some carefully selected West Highland
cows with purely-bred shorthorn bulls. The bulls were red, red and
white, or dark roan; and the Highland cows were all of a red colour,
inclining to a light or yellow shade. But a considerable number of the
offspring--and Mr. Beasley calls attention to this as a remarkable
fact--were white, or white with red ears. Bearing in mind that none of
the parents were white, and that they were purely-bred animals, it is
highly probable that here the offspring reverted, in consequence of the
cross, to the colour either of the aboriginal parent-species or of some
ancient and half-wild parent-breed. The following case, perhaps, comes
under the same head: cows in their natural state have their udders but
little developed, and do not yield nearly so much milk as our
domesticated animals. Now there is some reason to believe[93] that
cross-bred animals between two kinds, both of which are good milkers,
such as Alderneys and Shorthorns, often turn out worthless in this
respect.

In the chapter on the Horse reasons were assigned for believing that
the primitive stock was striped and dun-coloured; and details were
given, showing that in all parts of the world stripes of a dark colour
fre