ON BREEDING AND REARING ANIMALS. 25 



" nature intended ; and its weight, in conse- 

 " quence, will be very great in proportion to the 

 " size of its bones. Thus a generation of ani- N 

 " mals of an extraordinary form, and saleable at 

 " enormous prices, may be obtained, but^that 

 44 doesjiotjgrgvejthatjthe practice is eligible^ if ^ 

 " lp n JLE?ffied in ; on the contrary, if the system \ 

 " be followed up, the stock get tender and deli- 

 " cate ; they become bad breeders, and though 

 " they retain their shape and beauty, they will 

 " decrease in vigour and activity, will become 

 " lean and dwarfish, and ultimately incapable of \ 

 " continuing the race/' *"?. 



If a striking instance, not only of the ab- 

 sence of physiological principles, in the appli- 

 cation of practical observation, but of the sub- 

 stitution of speculative opinion; was necessary, 

 to prove a want of scientific arrangement, in Sir 

 John Sinclair, surely this must be sufficient ; 

 and if such arguments as the following, against 

 the attempt to produce a certain effect, are per- 

 mitted to influence opinion, and such causes be 

 assigned, as these, " it is thus made to attain a 

 " greater size than nature intended" agriculture 

 might, indeed, continue to be mere speculation 

 and uncertainty. 



But even were such observations, construed 

 in the most favourable manner, they apply par- 



