130G CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCTOR. 



to be prepotent — to mate with the mares at our disposal, cannot be too 

 strongly urged as one of the readiest means of improvement. It is 

 generally admitted that the straighter or less mixed the breed is, the 

 greater the probability of its transmitting to the offspring the qualities 

 it possesses, whether these be good or bad. Economy has made the 

 male ancestor the most important, simply because he sires a great many 

 foals while the mare i)roduces only one each year. 



X. Influence of a Previous Impregnation. 

 The influence of the male in the process of breeding is not limited 

 to his immediate offspring, but extends through the female that he 

 has impregnated to her offspring by another male. Paradoxical as 

 this statement may appear, there are many well-authenticated cases 

 on record that cannot be explained in any other way. It is authen 

 tically stated that in 1815 a chestnut mare, seven-eighths Arabian 

 was covered by a Qiiagga (a species of Zebra). The hybrid pro 

 duced resembled the sire in color and many characteristics of form 

 etc. In 1817, 1818 and 1821 the same mare was bred to a pure 

 bred Arabian stallion and produced three foals, all of which bore the 

 curious markings of the Quagga. Instances of this kind in a less 

 marked degree have been noticed by many breeders. Although any 

 impregnation may have influence upon successive ones, the first is of 

 the most importance. It is probable that the female has received, 

 through the fatal circulation, some of the attributes the foetus has 

 derived from the male, and that these are communicated along with 

 those proper to herself to the offspring of a different male. It is claimed 

 that when a pure-bred female of any breed has been impregnated by a 

 male of another breed she becomes a cross — loses her purity of blood in 

 consequence of her connection with the foreign animal. It maybe said 

 that the act of fecundation is not an act that is limited in its effect, but 

 that it affects the whole system, the sexual organs especially, and in the 

 sexual system the ovums to be impregnated hereafter are so modified by 

 the first act that later impregnations do not efface the first impression. 



XI. Intra-Uterine Influence. 

 The abnormal peculiarities sometimes observed in animals at the 

 lime of birth, that are not recognized as family characteristics, have 

 been popularly attributed to some mysterious influences of the im- 

 agination of the mother in the process of intra-uterine development. 

 Some claim that this law is noticed even in fowls. It is stated 

 that the ambition, courage and military skill of Napoleon Bonaparte 

 had their foundation in the fact that the Emperor's mother fol- 



