ABSTRACT
In all the cases hitherto given the male is more strongly or brighter coloured than the female, and differs from the young of both sexes. With many birds, ornaments, which analogy leads us to believe were primarily acquired by the males, have been transmitted equally, or almost equally, to both sexes; and the author's may now enquire how far this view applies to mammals. A graduated series can be followed from the axis deer, both sexes of which at all ages and during all seasons are beautifully spotted, to species in which neither the old nor the young are spotted. The law of the equal transmission of characters to both sexes, as far as colour and other ornaments are concerned, has prevailed far more extensively with mammals than with birds; but weapons, such as horns and tusks, have often been transmitted either exclusively or much more perfectly to the males than to the females.
