DEVELOPIHENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF BREEDS. 639 



gans — that is, either forehead and organs of sense, together with the vital 

 and nutritive organs, or back-head, together with the locomotive organs. 



"The second law, namely, that of crossing, operates where each parent 

 is of a different breed, and when, supposing both to be of equal age and 

 vigor, the male gives the back-head and locomotive organs, and the female 

 the face and nutritive organs. 



"The third law, namely, that of in-and-in breeding, operates where both 

 parents are not only of the same variety, but of the same family in its 

 narrowest sense, and when the female gives the back-head and locomo- 

 tive organs, and the male the face and nutritive organs — precisely the 

 reverse of -"'^"at takes place in crossing." 



XIV. Atavism. 



The aj^i^earance, occasionally, of horns in the Galloway, Suffolk and 

 other breeds that have been hornless for many generations, but which 

 were originally a horned race, are remarkable instances of atavism. The 

 appearance, in a litter of Essex pigs, of two young ones showing the 

 Berkshire cross of twenty-eight years before, as cited by Mr. Sidney, is 

 also a remarkable case of the same kind. We have already noticed the 

 occasional appearance, through atavism, of deformed horns in Short- 

 Horn cattle. In calves, also, this race shows remarkably in this respect ; 

 the following case is given by the "Country Gentleman :" 



"Mr. Wadsworth owns the twin Princess cows. Lady Mary seventh 

 and eighth ; they are both good roans, got by fourth Lord of Oxford 

 (5903 "American Herd-Book"), a roan bull; their dam, Lady Mary, a 

 red, got by Hotspur (31393), a roan ; their granddam, Baroness, a red 

 roan, got by Barrington (30501), a white ; their great-granddam, the im- 

 ported red Princess cow. Red Rose, second, got by Napier (6238), red 

 roan. These twin heifers, Lady Mary seventh and eighth, were both 

 served by the Princess bull. Earl of Seaham (8077 "American Herd- 

 Book"), a good roan, and each dropped a bull-calf; but the one from 

 Lady Mary seventh was a red, while the other, from Lady Mary eighth, 

 was white." 



XV. Peculiarities of Ancestors Perpetuated. 



In the breeding of animals of a pure and homogeneous breed, there 

 will be a perfect blending of characteristics, without marked peculiarities, 

 as a rule. In the offspring of dissimilar parents, as in crossing, there is 

 never complete fusion or blending of character, but the offspring in such 

 cases will follow, more or less closely, the prepotent parent. It is not 

 necessarv to cite authorities on this point. Instances are of such constant 

 occurrence, both in the human family and down through all the domestic 

 animals, that they have been noticed by all intelligent observers. In wild 



