116 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. 



dered incestuous connexion per se an element of dete- 

 rioration and final destruction ? Among wild brutes, 

 brothers and sisters must constantly pair together. 

 Some kinds of birds are hatched in pairs as if for the 

 express purpose of remaining together and interbreed- 

 ing. And the connexion of brothers and sisters is 

 the closest possible interbreeding. Has any one dis- 

 covered or even conjectured a decay of the wild deni- 

 zens of earth or air on this account ? Does any one 

 imagine that the elephant is smaller or weaker than 

 he was when he trampled down armed squadrons on 

 old barbaric battle-fields ages on ages ago, or that the 

 African lion is a less formidable animal than when 

 his angry roar shook the Roman Coliseum ? 



It may be said that inasmuch as the strong males 

 destroy or banish from the herd the weak males, and 

 that in times of scarcity and hardship the weaker 

 animals of both sexes perish, a natural provision has 

 been made to guard against deterioration, whether 

 arising from in-and-in breeding or any other cause. 

 In respect to animals which herd together in large 

 numbers, and which are periodically exposed to se- 

 vere vicissitudes of climate and periods of scarcity of 

 food, this would be in a great measure true ; but there 

 are portions of the earth where some classes of animals, 

 particularly those of the lower organizations and soli- 

 tary habits, cannot be supposed to be subject to such 

 casualties, or to any which would have the effect of 

 regularly weeding out those possessed of less than the 

 average of strength and hardiness. And I apprehend 

 we shall find no natural laws necessary for the protec- 

 tion of animal life and vigor, enforced in respect to 

 the higher and not the lower organizations, or which 



