100 THE PERFECT HORSE. 



he is free from bad points, as well as furnished with 

 good ones. It is known by experience that the good 

 or bad points of the progenitors of the sire or dam are 

 almost as likely to appear again in the offspring as those 

 of the immediate parents in whom they are dormant. 

 Hence, in breeding, the rule is, that like produces like, 

 or the likeness of some ancestor. 



"13. The purer or less mixed the breed, the more 

 likely it is to be transmitted unaltered to the offspring. 

 Hence, whichever parent is of the purest blood will be 

 generally more represented in the offspring: but as the 

 male is usually more carefully selected, and of purer 

 blood, than the female, it generally follows that he ex- 

 erts more influence than she does; the reverse being 

 the case when she is of more unmixed blood than the 

 sire. 



"14. Breeding 'in-and-in' is injurious to mankind, 

 and has always been forbidden by the divine law, as 

 well as by most human lawgivers. On the other hand, 

 it prevails extensively in a state of nature with all gre- 

 garious animals (such as the horse), among whom the 

 strongest male retains his daughters and grand-daughters 

 until deprived of his harem by younger and stronger 

 rivals. Hence, in those of our domestic animals which 

 are naturally gregarious, it is reasonable to conclude 

 that breeding 'in-and-in' is not prejudicial, because it 

 is in conformity with their natural instincts, if not car- 

 ried farther by art than Nature teaches by her example. 

 Now, in nature, we find about two consecutive crosses 



