238 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



Mr. Spooner adds, 1 however, that " the size is gov- 

 erned more by the male parent ; " while Mr. Orton is 

 equally positive that the size must follow the female 

 parent. 9 



It will be noticed that the advocates of the half- 

 and-half theory of generation do not agree in many 

 particulars as to the supposed division of parental in- 

 fluence, and this in itself may fairly be urged as an 

 objection to the theory. 



When the offspring in external form resembles 

 one parent, it does not follow that the internal or vital 

 organization is derived from the other parent, and the 

 advocates of this theory have failed to produce any 

 evidence that can possibly warrant such a conclusion. 



In crossing a pure-bred male, of any of the im- 

 proved meat-producing breeds, upon native or cross- 

 bred females, the sire is not only prepotent in deter- 

 mining the external form and characters of the off- 

 spring, but he has also a predominant influence upon 

 the organs of nutrition, as is shown in the uniform 

 superiority of the grade animal to its dam, in size, 

 feeding quality, and early maturity. 



Instead of a limitation of the influence of each 

 parent to a particular set of organs, we find the parent 

 that is prepotent in the transmission of its characters 

 has a controlling influence upon the internal as well 

 as the external organization of the offspring. 



Physiological objections may likewise be made to 

 the classification and presumed origin of the various 

 organs of the body, in each of the three forms of the 

 theory under consideration. 



1 Loc. tit., p. 295. 2 " Principles of Breeding," p. 78. 



