ON BREEDING AND HEARING ANIMALS. ^25 



" nature intended ; and its v/eight, in conse- 

 " quence, will be very great in proportion to the 

 " size of its bones. Thus a generation of ani- 

 " mals of an extraordinaiy form, and saleable at 

 " enormous prices, may be obtained, but that 

 ** does not prove that the practice is eligible, if 

 ** long persisted in ; on the contrary, if the system 

 " be followed up, the stock get tender and deli- 

 " cate ; they become bad breeders, and though 

 " they retain their shape and beauty, they will 

 " decrease in vigour and activity, will become 

 " lean and dwarfish, and ultimately incapable of 

 " continuing the race.'* 



If a striking instance, not only of the ab- 

 sence of physiological principles, in the appli- 

 cation of practical observation, but of the sub- 

 stitution of speculative opinion, was necessary, 

 to prove a want of scientific arrangement, in Sir 

 John Sinclair, surely this must be sufficient ; 

 and if such arguments as the following, against 

 the attempt to produce a certain effect, are per- 

 mitted to influence opinion, and such causes be 

 assigned, as these, **it is thus made to attain a 

 " greater size than nature intendedy^ agriculture 

 might, indeed, continue to be mere speculation 

 and uncertainty. 



But even were such observations, construed 

 in the most favourable manner, they apply })ar- 



