More especially we might have inferred this from the blue colour and the several marks so often appearing when differently coloured breeds are crossed.

Hence, although under nature it must generally be left doubtful, what cases are reversions to formerly existing characters, and what are new but analogous variations, yet we ought, on our theory, sometimes to find the varying offspring of a species assuming characters which are already present in other members of the same group.

And this undoubtedly is the case.