ON BREEDING. 123 



the Earl of Eglinton, who owned him during the entire 

 of his racing career, I would not have parted even with 

 a share in him for anj ordinary consideration. We 

 must all admire the noble spirit of the Marquis of 

 Westminster, who, when solicited to part with Touch- 

 stone to the Germans, sent the reply, that " A German 

 principality should not buy Touchstone." 



ON BREEDING. 



It would be foreign to my present purpose to enter at 

 full length into the subject of breeding. Nevertheless, 

 I think it advisable to make a few observations on this 

 most important question. 



PRINCIPLES APPLICABLE TO BOTH SIRE AND DAM. 



Breeding fi-om unsound stock is, perhaps, the most 

 serious, as well as the most usual, mistake into which 

 people have fallen. No mle in the li\'ing economy is 

 better established than the law of the hereditary trans- 

 mission of qualities. I do not wish to be understood 

 as asserting that the actual disease is communicated, 

 but merely that such a peculiarity of constitution or 

 form is handed down from generation to generation, as 

 renders the offspring extremely liable to the same dis- 

 eases as their parents, whenever they are exposed to 

 suitable exciting causes. Indeed, I might almost go 

 the length of saying that, viewed in this light, every- 



