THE PARMER^S MAGAZINE. 



197 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF BREEDING. 



Sir, — The paper read at the Croydon Farmers' Club 

 by Dr. Shorthouse, a report of which appeared in these 

 pages in the July number, contains many valuable re- 

 marks got up with great talent, to which may be added 

 several other confirmatory examples, interesting and 

 important to breeders. It also contains recommenda- 

 tions replete with evil tendencies, by advocating inces- 

 tuous breeding and in-and-in breeding too closely. 



The circumstance of the chesnut mare having issue by 

 a quagga, which, as might be expected, bore much 

 resemblance to the sire, and afterwards being presented 

 to a pure Arabian, producing foals with characteristics 

 of her first partner, is not an isolated case : there are 

 many analogous to it, and they demand the serious 

 attention of breeders of every description of domestic 

 animals. A similar event took place with an Arabian 

 mare, the property of the late Sir Gore Ouseley, which 

 the paintings of the animals, together with their skins, 

 will testify, on inspection of them at the College of 

 Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. Mr. Good- 

 win, a gentleman for many years connected with the 

 Royal stud at Hampton Court, whose investigations and 

 experience command the highest respect, observed 

 during the reign of William the Fourth that many of 

 the mares bred foals to Acteeon with white faces and 

 white fetlocks, though Actteon had no white about him ; 

 but the previous year these mares had produced foals to 

 The Colonel, who had a white face and a white fetlock. 

 The Stud Book, than which in connexion with the 

 Racing Calendar we can scarcely find a more certain 

 guide, confirms the influence as relates to the first con- 

 nexion. There are several instances of mares having 

 their first produce by common horses, but a careful 

 research through those pages fails in finding an example 

 of the future progeny by thorough-bred horses having 

 proved of any value for racing purposes. But this 

 faculty does not appear to be so positively defined when 

 a thorough-bred horse has been on the first occasion 

 selected. As I consider this to be a subject of so much 

 importance, I offer no other apology for detailing ex- 

 amples. In 1825 Eliza Leeds produced a filly by Filho 

 da Puta ; the following year a dead foal by Blacklock ; 

 then Erymus by Moses, a very fair racehorse ; she was 

 barren one year, and in 1829 had a colt by a common 

 horse ; afterwards a filly by Richard. Eva, by Sultan, 

 was foaled by her in 1832 ; and St. Luke, by Bedlamite, 

 the succeeding year. Both these were respectable run- 

 ners. The first-born of another mare. Handmaiden, 

 was by Palmerin. In 1828 she produced a filly by 

 coach-horse ; the next year cast a foal to Lottery. Eve, 

 by the same sire, was the succeeding issue ; and the 

 year afterwards came Inheritor, also by Lottery, a very 

 superior horse. Both these examples of Eliza Leeds 

 and Handmaiden afford evidence that the mongrel influ- 

 ence had not the same effect over the future progeny as 

 it would have had in the event of the common horses 



being the sires of the first foals, of which many examples 

 are to be found in the Stud Book. If a cart-mare on 

 the first occasion breeds a foal by a thorough-bred 

 horse, that foal will partake extensively of the outward 

 character and refinement of the sire ; but, on the other 

 hand, if a cart -mare is first put to a cart-stallion, and 

 afterwards to a thorough-bred horse, her produce by the 

 latter will represent much of the coarseness of her first 

 partner. I can show several living examples of this 

 close at home. 



Mr. Fisher Hobbs, at a meeting of the Central Far- 

 mer's Club, mentioned a case in which a Merino ram 

 was put with ten Leicester ewes, and the following year 

 a ram of the Leicester breed ; the result was that six 

 out of the ten produced lambs with a decided charac- 

 teristic of the pure-bred Merino. 



The late Earl Spencer laid it down as a principle, 

 which has been frequently quoted, " that when a pure 

 animal of any breed has once been pregnant to one of a 

 diff'erent breed, she is herself a cross ever after." The 

 examples already given confirm it, with this reservation, 

 that the distinction will be more decisive if the cross- 

 bred animal be the sire of the first issue. 



I am quite prepared to endorse the argument that the 

 male parent chiefly governs the production of external 

 characters and structures, and very materially the action 

 of the off'spring, provided the male be of purer or 

 equally pure blood as the female ; if not, the result will 

 be very uncertain : and it is the absence of this investi- 

 gation that frequently leads breeders into labyrinths of 

 disappointment. There are daily proofs of the influence 

 of the male over the external structures ; they are attri- 

 butes which the eye can recognize, and there are other 

 data to confirm it ; but I cannot admit that the mare 

 governs the qualities of endurance, and on this 

 point must join issue with the Arabs. The Stud 

 Book and Racing Calendar again come conveniently 

 to the rescue. As Orlando was an honest race-horse 

 and a very superior stallion, his genealogy, and the per- 

 formances of some of his ancestors, will serve as an illus- 

 tration. He was by Touchstone out of Vulture by 

 Langar. Neither Banter nor Boadicea, the dam and 

 grandam of Touchstone, were celebrated for their turf 

 exploits. Vulture was famed for speed ; she was sig- 

 nally deficient of the quality of endurance : one mile was 

 her extreme distance, but half that length was more con- 

 genial to her taste, at which she had few superiors. Her 

 being so inbred — the issue of first cousins — may afford 

 some explanations for her shortcomings. Kite, the dam 

 of Vulture, had no predilection beyond a mile; and her 

 dam, Olympiii, added no distinction to the place from 

 whence she derived her name. For Olympic revelries 

 she displayed but little taste. Teddington, a son of Or- 

 lando, aflFbrds another example; his dam gave but an 

 insignificant proof of her racing qualities, never having 

 started but once, when she was unsuccessful. Electress, 







