TELEGONY 241 



Professor Ewart, who has made the subject of telegony a special study 

 for several years, employing in his experiments Burchell's male zebra, which 

 he has crossed with several varieties of the horse, and subsequently mated 

 the mares so used with horses, believes in regard to markings that " if 

 those on Sir George Ouseley's colts were not due to the dam having been 

 influenced in some way by the quagga, they resulted from reversion". 

 " I prefer", he says, " the reversion explanation, because it seems to be 

 simpler and more in accordance with established facts." On the general 

 question, however, he is careful to note that " it would be premature to 

 come to any conclusion as to whether there is such a thing as infection 

 of the germ or not". 



Millais, who made numerous experiments with "pure-bred dams and wild 

 sires, and returned them afterwards to pure sires of their own breeds, never 

 saw a case of telegony", and "every single experimenter", he says, "who 

 has bred to produce the phenomenon has hopelessly failed like himself". 



We have endeavoured to elicit the general experience of horse-breeders 

 and stud-managers by submitting to them the following question on the 

 subject, and it will be seen by the answers given below how little is known 

 of it, and how universally the theory is repudiated by them. 



Question. When a filly has been put to a horse and bred a foal by 

 him, it is said by some that foals from the same mare subsequently born to 

 other sires partake after the first sire. Have you any experience which 

 bears out this statement? If so, will you kindly give me particulars of the 

 case or cases? 



1. " It is a subject in which I have taken great interest for some years. 

 In the cases that have come under my observation I have never had an 

 instance cf foals born from the same mare taking after the first sire." 

 Rev. D. B. Montefiore, Mursley Hall, Winslow. 



2. "I think the first sire influences the produce when a mare is put to 

 another sire, but have no experience to offer. Mowthorpe, my stud- 

 groom, is certain they do, but neither can he give any evidence on the 

 point." R. Whitworth, Southivood End*, Halifax. 



3. "I have not had any cases where a mare has bred a foal and then, 

 when put to a different sire, has bred stock which has taken after the first 

 sire. I once had a case where I could not get a Shire mare to commence 

 breeding to a Shire horse, so we used a hackney, which was successful. 

 Several people told me she would always breed hackneys or very light 

 foals, but I proved this to be quite the contrary, as the next foal she had, 

 which was by a Shire horse, was very weighty and full of bone and made a 

 good horse, and the mare continued breeding good Shires." J. Waimvright, 

 Hargate Hall, Buxton. 



