INHERITANCE IN RACE HORSES 93 



we can apply in horse-breeding, where we are sadly 

 in need of correct laws, because all we have done 

 up till now is simply to wander about in utter dark- 

 ness. None of the existing so-called laws in horse- 

 breeding can stand a trial before modern biological 

 researches. They are all based on statistics got 

 from the results on the racecourse, or from the 

 degree of inbreeding in pedigrees, and from old 

 conceptions largely based on fancies. But, by 

 statistics, one might conceivably prove that a horse 

 cannot win a Derby if his tail is not at least two feet 

 long, or if his jockey has not fair hair, for statisti- 

 cal coincidences are not necessarily biological 

 analyses. It is not mj' ol^ject now to go further 

 into this question, but it will suffice for me to point 

 to the fact, that about three thousand blood- 

 horses are born year by j^ear in great Britain, 

 and that two thousand seven hundred of them 

 are quite useless for racing purposes. I believe 

 that English breeders are very much interested in 

 Mendelism, and I can say the same of continental 

 breeders, because when I published last November 

 a series of articles in German sporting papers about 

 the Mendelian laws and their application to horse- 

 breeding, I was simply inundated with letters from 

 all parts of German-speaking countries. These 

 letters did not only come from horse-breeders, but 

 from Professors of Universities, Gynaekologists, and 

 Biologists. So the interest exists, it only requires 

 developing, and I look to the Mendel Journal as 

 one of the best means to further this development. 



