BIOLOGY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 



breeds of to-day. From similar evidence, we know Assyrian 

 horses had the size and conformation of many of our best 

 breeds. To a certain extent these idealized creatures existed 

 only in the imagination of the artist, but they must have 

 been suggested by the livestock in the fields and, judging 

 from these art relics, the ideals of ancient herdsmen were 

 much the same as those held to-day. 



History does not go back far enough to tell about the 

 beginnings of animal husbandry. The great differences 

 between domesticated animals and their nearest wild 

 relatives indicate the long time that they have been cared 

 for in confinement. Agriculture was the principal form of 

 livelihood before machines were invented; and, while 

 there has been much improvement in mechanical invention, 

 animal breeding proceeds in much the same way it did 

 four thousand years ago. Belief in maternal impressions, 

 mentioned in Genesis, is still often held, along with many 

 other opinions that have no foundation in fact. The changes 

 that have been made in animals, adapting them to man's 

 better uses, are the result of the application of the simple 

 formula: "select the best for breeding stock." 



The first notable advance in animal breeding methods 

 occurred about the middle of the eighteenth century in 

 England. The red, black, and pied, short-horned cattle of 

 northeastern England, interbred with cattle from Holland, 

 became famous all over the British Islands. Certain in- 

 dividuals were exhibited in all of the important cattle 

 raising districts. They came to be known by name. Farmers 

 eagerly bought calves from these celebrated cows and 

 proudly traced the pedigrees of their herd sires back to this 

 foundation stock. From this source developed the system 

 of recording pedigrees, and in 1822 the first English herd 

 book was published. 



Then followed the realization that the value of an animal 

 for breeding purposes consisted in its ability to transmit 



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