RACEHORSES 93 



thoroughbreds, declare that you cannot now get too 

 much of Birdcatcher.' 



So far as is known, no direct investigations have 

 been made to test how far inbreeding may be carried 

 in the Equidae ; but, on the other hand, the breeding of 

 racehorses may perhaps be looked upon as a gigantic 

 experiment in this direction. Our English thorough- 

 breds can be traced back to a few imported sires the 

 Byerly Turk, imported in 1689; the Darley Arabian, in 

 1710; and the Godolphin Arabian, in 1730. Since then, 

 by careful breeding and nutrition, they have increased 

 on an average some 8 or 9 inches in height. There is, 

 however, a widely-spread impression that at present 

 there is a marked deterioration in the staying power 

 and in the general ' fitness ' of the racer. The falling 

 off is further shown by a fact commented on by 

 Sir Walter Gilbey viz., ' the smallness of the per- 

 centage of even tolerably successful horses out of 

 a prodigious number bred at an enormous outlay.' 

 In support of this he quotes a sentence from the 

 Times (December 27, 1897), referring to a sale in 

 which thirty-two yearlings had been sold for 51,250 

 guineas. 



* These thirty- two yearlings ' (said the Times) ' are represented 

 by two winners of five races, Florio Rubattino and La Reine, 

 who have contributed about "2,000 to the total cost ; and there 

 is not, so far as can be known, a single one of the thirty others 

 with any prospect of making a racehorse.' 



If, then, it is true that the English racehorse is on 

 the down grade, what steps should be taken to arrest 

 this descent ? Sir Everett Millais restored a pack of 

 basset hounds by crossing them with a bloodhound, 

 the original forefather of bassets. The resulting pups 

 were bassets in form, but not quite bassets in colour ; 

 when, however, these cross-breeds were mated with 

 bassets the majority of the pups turned out to be 



