278 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



impregnation of the female only, but there is good 

 reason to believe that every impregnation may leave 

 its impress upon partly-developed germs, and be thus 

 transmitted with the characters of a subsequent fecun- 

 dation. 



The intensity of the influence of the male may be 

 impaired by an excessive use of the procreative organs, 

 and it has been observed in fowls that when the male 

 is " over-mated " the eggs are sometimes imperfectly 

 impregnated. 



Mr. "Wright remarks that " it is a notorious fact 

 that when a cock is over-mated the eggs always hatch 

 in a very unsatisfactory manner ; " and he adds : " But 

 besides mere fertility there are other considerations ; 

 and, in the first place, it appears indisputable that 

 eggs may be so far fertilized as to commence hatching, 

 and yet not have sufficient vigor to complete the pro- 

 cess successfully. The number of cases where such 

 experiments have been made as we have quoted, in 

 which part of the eggs produced showed signs of 

 hatching but did not hatch, is proportionately very 

 great, and the conclusion will not be lost on the intel- 

 ligent breeder. 



" But still further, and coming back to the consid- 

 erations with which we commenced this part of the 

 subject, it is utterly impossible to resist the conclusion 

 that, beyond fertilization, the act of union exerts, in 

 many cases, a more mysterious and far-reaching influ- 

 ence." l 



The same writer is inclined to the belief that, when 

 a hen-turkey is mated but once for an entire laying of 



1 "The Illustrated Poultry-Book," pp. 130, 131. 



