THE SIRE. 



103 



I have two other mares whose colts invariably resemble 

 themselves, or some one of their parental ancestors. So 

 true is this, that I can calculate before the foal appears 

 what he will not be, although I may not easily tell what 

 he luill be. Such are the facts in my own stables ; and 

 they harmonize perfectly with the results of observa- 

 tion in many other breeding establishments. The law 

 plainly suggested by inference from these facts is this, 

 that the animal with the strongest vitality marks the foal. 

 If the dam be most highly organized, then the foal will 

 resemble the dam ; if the sire, then the foal will resem- 

 ble the sire. This is the law, as we all know, in the 

 human family : if the mother be of nervous, sanguine 

 temperament, and the father lymphatic and sluggish, 

 the child will take after the mother ; if the conditions 

 be reversed, the result will be the reverse. Exceptions 

 there may be and are ; but the law stands firm, vindi- 

 cating its truth with each successive generation. I am 

 bound, nevertheless, to say that this law does not hold 

 good in cases where we should naturally expect it 

 would. To illustrate : According to the law, when a 

 low-blooded mare is bred to a thorough-bred horse, the 

 foal should resemble the sire ; but, alas ! too often he 

 does not. On the other hand, according to the law, a 

 blooded-mare bred to a low-blooded horse should bring 

 forth a colt like herself ; but neither is this true. What, 

 then, becomes of the law? I confess that I do not 

 know ; nor have I been able to find in the works of any 

 author a satisfactory answer to the puzzle. Practically 



