CHAPTER VIII. 

 PRINCIPLES THAT RELATE TO PREGNANCY 



The discussion of this question will consider only such 

 phases of pregnancy as will show the relation between food 

 and exercise and development during the period of preg- 

 nancy and the nursing period that immediately follows it. 

 The whole question in the wider sense is discussed by the 

 author in the book, "Animal Breeding," Chapters IX to 

 XVI. 



Among the principles that relate to food and exercise 

 in their relation to pregnancy and that have the strength 

 of law, are the following : ( i ) The time of mating is 

 much influenced by the food fed; (2) the degree of the 

 impregnation is influenced by bodily condition at the time 

 of mating; (3) the relation between the food fed and the 

 character of the development in utero^ is intimate and close ; 

 (4) sufficient exercise for pregnant animals is absolutely 

 essential to successful breeding; (5) a reasonably high con- 

 dition of flesh during pregnancy is in no way antagonistic 

 to successful breeding; (6) dams in good flesh at the time 

 of parturition can nourish their young better than those 

 in low flesh. 



Pregnancy and time of mating. The chief influences 

 that determine the breeding season are food, habit and in- 

 heritance. The first of these only will be discussed here. 

 Food affects the time of mating through the influence 

 which it exercises on the system as a whole, and more 

 particularly on the organs concerned in generation. It 

 would seem correct to say that whatever aids digestion 

 will also prove an aid to prompt and regular breeding. 

 The breeding impulse is influenced by the character of the 



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