218 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



it possesses, whether these be good or bad. Economi- 

 cal purposes have made the male in general the most 

 important, simply because he serves for a considerable 

 number of females. 



" The consequence of this has been that more at- 

 tention has been paid to the blood or purity of race 

 of the stallion, bull, ram, and boar, than to that of the 

 females; and hence it may be the case that these 

 males more frequently transmit their qualities to the 

 offspring than do the inferior females with which 

 they are often made to breed. But this circumstance 

 can scarcely be adduced as a proof that the male, 

 cceteris paribus, influences the offspring more than 

 the female." 1 



Notwithstanding the predominant influence of the 

 " best-bred " parent is the rule, the intensity of other 

 conditions, in many cases, interferes and produces un- 

 expected variations. If high breeding has been prac- 

 tised with reference to a single quality only, as, for 

 instance, speed in the horse, and the qualities that 

 give strength and constitution are neglected, the one- 

 sided development of the animal may produce an un- 

 stable condition of the organization that is not favor- 

 able to uniformity in the transmission of the single 

 character it is proposed to perpetuate. 



Stonehenge, in noticing such exceptions to the 

 general rule, says : " My own belief in this matter, 

 founded upon observations made during a long series 

 of years, on the horse as well as the dog, is, that ho 

 rule can be laid down with any certainty. Much 



1 Dr. Allen Thompson, article " Generation," in " Cyclopaedia of 

 Anatomy and Physiology," vol. ii., p. 472. 



