86 ' BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



witnessing the results of the operation of this law of hereditary 

 transmission. So common indeed is its occurrence, that the re- 

 mark is often made, that however good a cow may be, there is no 

 telling beforehand what sort of a calf she may have. 



The fact is sufficiently obvious that cei'tain peculiarities often lie 

 dormant for a generation or two and then reappear in subsequent 

 progeny. Stockmen often speak of it as "breeding back," or " cry- 

 ing back." The cause of this phenomenon we may not fully under- 

 stand. A late writer says, " it is to be explained on the supposition 

 that the qualities were transmitted by the grandfather to the father 

 in whom they were masked by the presence of some antagonistic 

 or controlling influence, and were thence transmitted to the son in 

 whom the antagonistic influence being withdrawn they manifest 

 themselves. A French writer on Physiology says, "if there is not 

 inheritance of paternal characteristics, there is at least an aptitude 

 to inherit them, a disposition to reproduce them ; and there is al- 

 ways a transmission of this aptitude to some new descendants, 

 among whom these traits will manifest themselves sooner or later,"* 

 Mr, Singer, let us say, has a remarkable aptitude for music ; but 

 the influence of Mrs. Singer is such that their children inheriting 

 her imperfect ear, manifest no musical talent whatever. These 

 children however have inherited the disposition of the father in 

 spite of its non-manifestation ; and if, when they transmit what in 

 them is latent, the influence of their wives is favorable, the grand- 

 children may turn out musically gifted. 



The lesson taught by the law of atavism is very plain. It shows 

 the importance of seeking " tho rough -bred " or "well-bred" ani- 

 mals ; and by these terms are simply meant such as are descended 

 from a line of ancestors in which for many generations the desira- 

 ble forms, qualities and characteristics have been uniformly shown. 

 In such a case, even if ancestral influence does come in play, no 

 material difference appears in the offspring, the ancestors being all 

 essentially alike. From this point we perceive in what consists 

 the money value of a good " pedigi'ee," It is in the evidence which 

 it brings that the animal is descended from a lino all the individuals 

 of which were alike, and excellent of their kind, and so is almost 

 Bure to transmit like excellencies to its progeny in turn ; — not that 



* " S'il n'y a pas heritage dcs cai"act6res patcrnels il y a done au moins aptitude h. 

 en heritcr, disposition ii les rcproduive, et toujours cctte transmission de cette apti- 

 tude a dcs noveau descendants, chcz Icsquels ccs nicmes caractcres sc mauifesteront 

 tot ou tard." — LongeVs " Traite de Pliysioloi/ie," ii: 133. 



