The Descent of Man

acquired his proper masculine characters, must
have occurred at a somewhat late period of life;
otherwise the young males would have been
similarly characterised; and conformably with
our rule, the variations are transmitted to and
developed in the adult males alone. When, on
the other hand, the adult male closely resembles
the young of both sexes (these, with rare
exceptions, being alike), he generally resembles
the adult female; and in most of these cases the
variations through which the young and old
acquired their present characters, probably occurred,
according to our rule, during youth. But
there is here room for doubt, for characters are
sometimes transferred to the offspring at an
earlier age than that at which they first appeared
in the parents, so that the parents may have
varied when adult, and have transferred their
characters to their offspring whilst young. There
are, moreover, many animals, in which the
two sexes closely resemble each other, and yet
both differ from their young: and here the cha-