SPECULATIONS 137 



to account for the extraordinary milking powers 

 of some animals and the beef-producing powers 

 of others without the assistance of Darwin or De 

 Vries or somebody else. Did any Dutch cows 

 produce twelve hundred gallons of milk a year, 

 or did any Dutch bullocks weigh thirteen or 

 fourteen hundredweights at less than two years 

 old two hundred years ago ; or if they did not, 

 could they have done so provided they had 

 received similar treatment to that received by 

 their descendants in Britain to-day ? To answer 

 these questions is of course to answer the 

 former ones ; but as we have no data before us 

 to answer these, the former must also remain 

 undecided. 



These remarks lead to another phase of the 

 same question, namely, Is it possible, without 

 crossing, to endow a set of animals with cha- 

 racters which none of them already possess ? For 

 example, is it possible, without crossing, to make 

 the North Devon as large as the Shorthorn, 

 or as black as the Aberdeen- Angus ? If Darwin's 

 theory be correct, then it might be possible, but 

 how long would it take ? If De Vries's organic 

 jerks occur, it may also be possible, but who 

 is to have the patience to sit down and watch 

 for them ? On the other hand, it must be remem- 

 bered that the origin of all our improved breeds 

 has been in the selections of such men as Bake- 

 well and his kind, of unparalleled judges as we 



