INFLUENCE OF A PREVIOUS IMPREGNATION. 279 



eggs, the young birds are not so strong and vigorous 

 as when the male runs permanently with a dozen or 

 fifteen hens. 1 



It seems to be quite generally acknowledged by 

 poultry-breeders that, to produce strong, vigorous off- 

 spring, the cocks should not be allowed to mate with 

 more than from four to six hens, if in confinement, or 

 with twice that number, under the most favorable 

 circumstances, when running at large. 3 



The effects of an impaired influence of the male, 

 in the process of procreation, upon his offspring, need 

 to be more fully investigated; but there are many 

 facts that indicate that this is in all probability a potent 

 cause of degeneracy. 3 



Closely connected with the facts under discussion 

 are the observations that have been made on the lower 

 animals, showing that at least several spermatozoons 

 (the active male elements of fertilization) are neces- 

 sary to produce a complete impregnation of the 

 germ; but it is perhaps impossible, from the differ- 

 ent conditions presented, to determine experimentally 



1 Loc. cit., p. 519. 



8 " The Illustrated Poultry-Book," by Wright, pp. 44, 306 ; Journal 

 of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. xii., p. 180; "Domestic Fowl," 

 by Richardson, p. 60 ; Geyelin'a " Poultry-Breeding," p. 24 ; Mowbray 

 on " Poultry," p. 33. 



3 Nordhoff describes the Mormon children as " undersized, loosely 

 built, flabby. . . . The young girls were pale, and had unwholesome, 

 waxy complexions ; the young men were small and thin, and looked 

 weak ; " but this he attributes to " the hard struggle with life while 

 these youth were babes " (Nordhoff's " California," pp. 42, 43). 



(The facts cited above, however, seem to indicate that these peculi- 

 arities may, with greater reason, be attributed to polygamy.) 



