232 BREEDING 



without being impregnated by natural means have at once been rendered 

 fruitful by artificial insemination. Thus valuable animals, relegated to the 

 drudgery of the farm as lost to the race, have been restored to the stud, and 

 converted into valuable assets. The advantage of this mode of propaga- 

 tion is not alone that it overcomes the impediment to insemination in the 

 mare and renders her fruitful, but by reducing the work of the sire his 

 strength and vigour are conserved, and his services become more effectual. 



Fig. 535. — Artificial Insemination: Gathering the Semen 

 A, Uterus; B, os uteri; c, vagina; D, inseminator; D', bulb of same; E, rectum; F, bladder; G, the semen. 



In the case of old and valuable stallions, artificial insemination may 

 be made to reduce their work by one half, or even more, while at the 

 same time it preserves their productiveness and prolongs their lives and 

 usefulness at the stud. 



By the same means, young fashionable stallions may be protected 

 during the period of growth against venereal excess, which in so many 

 instances is allowed to sap the constitution and weaken not only the 

 individual but his offspring. 



The overstrain which the rush to fashionable horses inflicts upon them 

 is responsible for much of the premature mortality and impotence from 



