The Descent of Man

conceivable (though I know of no distinct facts
rendering it probable) that the slaty females
might acquire so strong a latent tendency to
pale-blueness, that they would not destroy this
colour in their male offspring, their female offspring
still inheriting the slaty tint. If so, the desired
end of making a breed with the two sexes
permanently different in colour might be gained.
The extreme importance, or rather necessity in
the above case of the desired character, namely,
pale-blueness, being present though in a latent
state in the female, so that the male offspring
should not be deteriorated, will be best appreciated
as follows: the male of Soemmerring's
pheasant has a tail thirty-seven inches in
length, whilst that of the female is only eight
inches; the tail of the male common pheasant is
about twenty inches, and that of the female
twelve inches long. Now if the female Soemmerring
pheasant with her SHORT tail were cros-