20 DOMESTIC A^'IMALS. 



breed, she is herself a cross ever after ; the purity of her blood having 

 been lost in consequence of this connection" This will no doubt be 

 received by many persons as an abstruse hypothesis, but there are un- 

 equivocal incidents in favor of it ; and that valuable monitor, past expe- 

 rience, must be received as a more convincing argument than the opinion 

 of individuals, on subjects which are hidden from our understanding by 

 the impenetrable veil which, on many occasions, enshrouds the secret 

 mysteries of nature. There are events on record which prove this 

 faculty, although they do not enlighten us as to the physical influences 

 which control it. Sir Gore Ousely, when in India, purchased an 

 Arabian mare, which during several seasons would not breed, and, in 

 consequence, an intercourse with a zebra was resorted to ', she produced 

 an animal striped like its male parent. The first object being accom- 

 plished, that of causing her to breed, a thorough-bred horse was selected, 

 but the produce was striped. The following year another horse was 

 chosen, yet the stripes, although less distinct, appeared on the foal. Mr. 

 Blaine relates that a chestnut mare also gave birth to a foal by a quagga, 

 and that the mare was afterward bred from by an Arabian horse, but that 

 the progeny exhibited a very striking resemblance to the quagga. 



The progeny will, as a rule, inherit the general or mingled qualities 

 of the parents. There is scarcely a disease by which either of them is 

 aflfected, that the foal does not often inherit or show a predisposition to 

 it. Even the consequences of ill-usage or hard work will descend to 

 the progen3\ There has been proof upon proof that blindness, roaring, 

 thick wind, broken wind, spavins, curbs, ringbones, and founder, have 

 been bequeathed to their offspring both by the sire and the dam. 



Peculiarity of form and constitution will also be inherited. This is a 

 most important but neglected consideration; for, however desirable or 

 even perfect may have been the conformation of the sire, every good 

 point may be neutralized or destroyed by the defective structure of the 

 mare. The essential points should be good in both parents, or some 

 minor defect in either be met, and got rid of by excellence in that par- 

 ticular point in the other. The unskillful or careless breeder, too often 

 so badly pairs the animals that the good points of each are almost lost, 

 the defects of both increased, and the produce is far inferior to both 

 sire and dam. 



The mare is sometimes put to the horse at too early an age ; or, 

 what is of more frequent occurrence, the mare is incapable from old age. 

 The owner is unwilling to destroy her, and determines that she shall 

 pay for her keeping by bearing him a foal. What is the consequence ? 

 The foal exhibits an unkindness of growth, a corresponding weakness, 

 and there is scarcely an organ that possesses its natural and proper 

 strength. 



That the constitution and power of endurance of the horse are in a 

 great measure inherited, no sporting man ever doubted. The qualities 

 of the sire or the dam descend from generation to generation, and the 

 excellences or defects of certain horses are often traced, and justly so, 

 to some peculiarity in a far-distant ancestor. 



It may, perhaps, be justly affirmed, that there is more difficulty in 

 selecting a good mare to breed from than a good horse, because she 



