BREEDING. 15 



ijig *^ no one rule Avithout an exception," is 

 sometimes verified ; and this even in the 

 first blood studs in the kingdom, where the 

 strictest^ attention to every consonant point 

 is so rigidly persevered in, that the least de- 

 viation from symmetry, speed, and perfection, 

 could hardly be believed, did not the result 

 so clearly demonstrate the frequency of tlie 

 fact. 



Extraordinary as such circumstance may 

 appear, it is certainly true that many of the 

 most capital runners, when they have be- 

 come stallions, seldom or ever begot a winner, 

 though the mares have been selected with 

 the greatest care as objects of equal perfec- 

 tion. These remain amon^^ the abstruse re- 

 cesses of nature, that will, perhaps, ever con- 

 tmue unexplained ; we may therefore pa- 

 tiently adopt a supposition as a substitute 

 for discovery, presuming, '' so far shall ye 

 go and no farther," is all that can be advanced 

 in elucidation of such a subject. 



In corroboration of this well-authen- 

 ticated assertion, great numbers might be 

 particularized of the present day, where the 



