SOME BELIEFS OF PRACTICAL BREEDERS 573 



particular, unusual instance, because it is so striking fixes itself in the 

 memory and the countless thousands of cases which do not support the 

 doctrine are overlooked. There is something in it akin to the memory 

 of the card player which retains so tenaciously the recollection of an 

 unusual hand, but here it is usually clearly recognized that chance 

 alone is responsible for the good fortune. So also in animal breeding 

 remembrances of strange coincidences are longest borne in mind, but it 

 seems to be a very common fault not to realize that they are after all 

 nothing but coincidences. 



Prepotency. It has been an early observation of animal breeders 

 that some animals possess a superior power of impressing offspring 

 with their characters. This is precisely what is meant by prepotency; 

 a prepotent animal is simply one which has the power to stamp its 

 offspring with its own characteristics. Obviously there is much room 

 here for confusion of thought, but at least the existence of prepotent 

 animals can scarcely be denied. The science of genetics unfortunately 

 has not advanced far enough to be able to state precisely what are the 

 requisites for prepotency, nor has it progressed to such an extent, as 

 some seem to think, that prepotency, like those other popular doctrines 

 which have been considered in this chapter, may be analyzed completely 

 and its untenable features discarded. 



The fact of prepotency we say must be admitted, and this position 

 is justified by a study of the history of any of the established breeds of 

 domestic animals. Without exception such breeds all show a narrowing 

 of the ancestral lines to a few favored families due to the superior excel- 

 lence and transmitting power of the individuals belonging to the family. 

 For prepotency is obviously a family matter. 



One of the most notable instances of prepotency is that of the Ham- 

 bletonian family of trotters and pacers. The progenitor of this family 

 was Hambletonian 10, a remarkable stallion who appears to have 

 inherited his excellent characters from those famous imported sires of 

 the early days of speed development, Messenger and Bellfounder. 

 Hambletonian 10 himself was no mean performer, having to his credit 

 a record of 2:48 % as a 3-year old in 1852, at which time the fastest 

 trotting record was 2 :28; but it is as a breeder that he has won enduring 

 fame. 



E. Davenport has studied with considerable care the relation of prepo- 

 tency to the development of trotting and pacing horses in the United 

 States. He found that up to and including 1901, a total of 26,327 horses 

 had been admitted to the list of performers, i.e., had records of 2 : 30 or 

 better. Of these performers, 14,808 traced back to eighty-five grandsires. 

 In other words over 50 per cent, of performers traced back to slightly 

 more than 1 per cent, of the grandsires of the breed. This fact is 



