THE PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 29 



Nothing must be left to chance. With a definite ideal 

 in view, he must carefully reason out the arguments for, 

 and against, each step before he takes it. 



First, then, let him thoroughly understand the mean- 

 ing of the word Heredity, which his dictionary will tell 

 him is the transmission of the characters or qualities 

 of parents to their offspring. This principle of heredity 

 has been so widely discussed and considered, and the 

 evidence of its action is so overwhelmingly conclusive, 

 that I may safely postulate its acceptance before dealing 

 with its intricacies. Briefly epitomised, its secret lies in 

 the axiom that " Like begets like." 



It has been calculated, and may be taken as a, 

 general rule, that any two parents between them con- 

 tribute, on the average, one-half of every inherited faculty, 

 each of them being individually responsible for one- 

 quarter of it. From the four grand-parents comes 

 another quarter, each of them individually contributing 

 one-sixteenth. A close and careful study of the charac- 

 teristics and peculiarities of these six immediate ancestors 

 is therefore a first essential in weighing the desirability 

 of a contemplated union. Three-quarters of the net 

 result of the mating are thereby taken into account. 



Beyond this the beginner must clearly realise that 

 every dog is to be considered, not as the mere progeny of 

 his sire and dam, but as the offspring of all hir, ancestors. 

 Not until he has thoroughly grasped this fundamental 

 fact can he hope to understand, in its crudest form, 



