148 SECRETS OF EARTH AND SEA 



which is now kept pure, or nearly so, is that of the St. 

 Bernard's dog, a blend of Newfoundland, Bloodhound, 

 and English Mastiff. 



Often the word " mongrel " is limited in its use to 

 signify an undesired or undesirable result of the cross- 

 breeding of individuals of established races. But this is 

 not quite fair to mongrels in general, since, as we have 

 seen, the name really refers only to the fact they are 

 crosses between two breeds. When they happen to suit 

 some artificial and arbitrary requirement they are favoured, 

 and made the starting-point of a new breed, and kept 

 pure in their own line; but when they do not fit some 

 capricious demand of the breeder they are sneered at 

 and condemned, although they may be fine and capable 

 animals. No doubt some mongrels between races differing 

 greatly from one another, or having some peculiar mixture 

 of incompatible qualities the exact nature of which we 

 have not ascertained, are wanting in vigour, and cannot 

 be readily established as a new breed. In nature the 

 success of the mongrel depends on whether or not its 

 mixture of qualities makes it fitter than others to the 

 actual conditions of its life, and able to survive in the com- 

 petition for food and place. In man's breeding operations 

 with varieties of domesticated animals and " cultivated " 

 plants, the survival of the mongrel depends upon its 

 fitting some arbitrary standard applied by man, who 

 destroys those which do not suit his fancy, and selects 

 for survival and continued breeding those which do. 



What is called " miscegenation," or the inter-breeding 

 of human races, must be looked at from both these points 

 of view. We require to know how far, if at all, the mixed 

 or mongrel offspring of a human race A with a human 

 race B is really inferior to either of the original stocks A 

 and B, judged by general capacity and life-preserving 

 qualities in the varied conditions of the great area of the 



