496 



The Journal of Heredity 



the prepotency demonstrated in the 

 dogs ... to which attention has Ixxn 

 drawn." Three years ago Irish terrier 

 breeders had already discovered this 

 prepotency, and as early as 1912 this 

 dog was the most ]x)i)ular sire. 



AN ENGLISH WINNER 



The case of the most popular Scottish 

 terrier is even more remarkable. The 

 dog Chamjjion Bapton Norman was at 

 the time only three years old, but he 

 had already sired three chamjjions and 

 nine winners of championship points or 

 certificates. Since then he has ])roved 

 himself to be one of the most phenom- 

 enal sires of any breed of dogs that has 

 ever appeared, but his English breeder 

 has refused all offers for the dog and he 

 is still in England. That a dog in 

 England should be represented in the 

 American stud book by more litters 

 than any dog in this country is unex- 

 pected. That he should be so young a 

 dog and that he should since then 

 demonstrate that he is one of the great 

 sires of all time shows that a prepotent 

 individual is sometimes discovered early 

 and that a number of dog breeders, 

 certainly Scottish terrier breeders, are 

 imi)orting for blood as well as points. 



The case of the fox terrier, Sabine 

 Reserve, is not so clear cut. As a stud 

 dog he is hardly so prepotent an individ- 

 ual as either Thorncroft Sportsman or 

 Bapton Norman, yet he is bred from 

 that eminent producing strain founded 

 by Champion Sabine Result, and of 

 his get registered dviring 1912 one 

 became a champion and four others 

 were winners at the shows. Clearly, if 

 not a phenomenal sire, he is much 

 above the average in his heredity 

 and in his capabilities. 



When in three breeds, i)icked as rej)- 

 rcsentative, the most pojjular sires ])rove 

 to be also imjjortant sires — two of them 



' Becker. The Croat Dane (IQO.S), p. 41; Pakw) >d, Slrnv Collies (1906), pp. IS, KM; Davics, 

 The Scottish Terrier (London n.d.), Chaj). IV; Craham, The Sporting Dog (1904), Chaps. II, III, 

 IV; Haynes, Practical Dog Breeding (1915), Chap. VI. 



truly great sires — it makes one wonder 

 if the consensus of breeders' opinions 

 does not come closer to the mark in 

 selecting as the popular the truly 

 prepotent individuals, than we are 

 prone to believe. Prepotency runs in 

 certain families in dogs as in other 

 animals-^ and this, being recognized by 

 dog breeders, undoubtedly influences 

 selection, but only indirectly. The 

 reputation of the individual dog, both as 

 a show winner and a sire of winners, is 

 almost always the determining factor 

 in a breeder's selection, but it can hardly 

 be a coincidence that in these thre'^ 

 breeds popularity and prepotency shoulel 

 have been combined. 



Superficially it might appear that if 

 approximately 40% of the puppies 

 each year are sired by but 20% of the 

 stud dogs this w^ould eventually result 

 in the greatest uniformity of type. The 

 selecteci sires are all to a greater or 

 lesser degree exceptional individuals, 

 but they are not selected by an}- uniform 

 system. Most of them excel in some 

 particular physical point, but they do 

 not excel in the same points or in the 

 same degree, nor even, in some cases, 

 in the same direction. Here the per- 

 sonal equation, the ideals of different 

 breeders, is at work, and the result is 

 that since a few males not themselves 

 of uniform type sire a greatcr-than- 

 averagc number of offspring they disturb 

 the race average of the following genera- 

 tion and introduce abnormal amounts 

 of variation. The fact therefore, that 

 artificial selection gives to certain 

 selected, but not uniform, males an 

 undue preponderance of influence must 

 always keejj the type of domestic animals 

 in an unstable state. This seems to me 

 an important factor in the great varia- 

 bility always noted among domesticated 

 breeds. 



