TREATMENT OF BREEDING COWS. 223 



extent, to engraft upon them his own distinctive features; his 

 influence thus reaching to the subsequent progeny in whose con- 

 ception he himself has had no share, and his image and super- 

 scription being, so to speak, more or less legibly inscribed upon 

 them. 



"Accordingly, if the female be of a different breed or species 

 from that male, and have thus borne a cross or a hybrid by him, 

 her subsequent offspring, got by males of the same breed or 

 species as herself, may yet have, more or less, the characters of 

 a cross or hybrid. 



"It seems not improbable, indeed, that on every occasion of 

 fruitful intercourse between a male and a female, some effect 

 of this kind is wrought on the breeding powers of the female; 

 but it would appear that the greater effect results from the first 

 sexual connection. Whether the effect is absolutely permanent, 

 and might show itself in all the offspring which the female is 

 capable of subsequently producing, is at present uncertain ; but it 

 would seem, in some instances at least, to disappear after a time. 



"Of this singular phenomenon, examples will presently be 

 given. That it is not less practical in its bearing than singular 

 in its character, must be evident to every one. If it be a gen- 

 eral fact, that is to say, a fact having the character of a law of 

 nature it is one obviously of practical application in the breed- 

 ing of stock. It will at once appear how important it must be 

 that care be taken in the selection of the male, and particularly 

 of the first male, in the coupling of animals even of the same 

 breed; and, if the preservation of a pure breed be an object of 

 regard, that crossing be in every instance religiously eschewed. 

 Whether it be a fact of that description, cannot, in the mean- 

 time, with any confidence be alleged. At present, the fact itself 

 is probably known to comparatively few, and what is known 

 regarding it, is deficient both in scientific accuracy and in practi- 

 cal value. But the conjecture may be hazarded, that were the 



