CATTLE-BRKEDrN'o.] CATTLE, AND THE IK A'AKIETIES. [cattle-bheedino. 



to select ihe best you can Jiud. He was nc- 

 quziinted with no stock so exi-elleut, in liis esti- 

 nialion, as his own. ConseiiutMitly, ho bred 

 from them because they were unequalled any- 

 wliere else. Jle brotitjlit his animals to r;reat 

 perfection ; imparted delicacy, uniformity, and 

 permanency to his flock and to his herd ; 

 reared finer animals ; and, if they woro not so 

 large as some others, they were less coarse, 

 and produced much more palatable meat. All 

 this ho did ; but, like many other experimen- 

 talists, he may have pursued his system to a 

 point of refiaemcut too far for the pains to bo 

 rewarded by an adequate degree of profit. 



Breeding in-and-in, in the human subject, is 

 said to produce various physical and mental 

 disorders, and in every way to have a deterio- 

 rating eflect upon the genus homo. To an 

 exemplification of this, we ourselves have been 

 a witness. At the foot of a mountain, near to 

 the banks of the Gaerlock, running in from the 

 river Clyde, in Scotland, there lived, in a few 

 scattered huts, about from one hundred and 

 fifty to two hundred Highlanders, who had 

 bred in-and-in, it was supjiosed, for nearly a 

 couple of centuries, and many of them were 

 sdly, and some of them quite idiotic. They 

 liad been ordered again and again off" the estate, 

 which had fallen into the hands of a new pro- 

 prietor, but would take no notice ; and had, at 

 last, we believe, to be burned out. They then 

 took their departure to a solitary glen among 

 the mountains, where they pitched their camp, 

 raised their bothies, and settled down to con- 

 tinue to perpetuate the idiotcy which their 

 habit of intcr-breeding had introduced amongst 

 them. If a family afllicted with mania, scrofula, i 

 or consumption, intermarries with another 

 family similarly afllicted, it is to be expected 

 that the virulence of either of these will be 

 increased, and that an early extinction of the 

 race may be anticipated, provided the ofiVpring 

 do not ally themselves with a better, or a 

 stronger and more healthy breed. The reason 

 of this is, that the parents took the very plan 

 to perpetuate, or render permanent, the evils 

 with which they themselves were afflicted. 

 Mr. Bates' raaxim was, "Breed in-and-in from 

 a bad stock, and you commit ruin and devas- 

 tation." 



In considering this part of our subject, the 

 arguments of Mr. Milburn go to favour the 



system of breeding in-and-in. " The objectors 

 to consanguineous breeding," ho Bayn, "and its 

 deteriorating and enfeebling charactcjr, seem to 

 forget that, in the case of the wild cattlo at 

 Chillingham Park [to which wo have alreiuly 

 ailuded], no cross has been inaiie fcjr an im- 

 memorial number of centuries; and thus, 

 unchanged and unchangeable, they remain, 

 without deterioration, without feebleness — a 

 standing objection to the indiscriminate con- 

 demnation of the system of breeding from tho 

 same stock. Tho answer, that these animals 

 do not show any improved points, is an argu- 

 ment in favour of this system of breeding. The 

 fact that they never liad them, and possibly 

 never will have the chance, so long as the breed 

 is kept pure and unalloyed, is quite decisive in 

 its iavour. Like all other wild animals, a 

 natural law prevents the feeble male I'rom 

 exercising any unfavourable tendency. . The 

 herd have a king, and, during the rutting season, 

 fierce and almost deadly battles take place 

 amongst the bulls for the favour of the females. 

 The hardiest, strongest, and most enduring 

 male is the victor, and he becomes the parent 

 of the future herd. This may, and is likely to 

 continue for some years ; because, when once 

 admitted a victor, a great change must take 

 place before the contest will be renewed. No 

 sooner, however, does the male animal become 

 feeble, than another season renews the strife. 

 The once proud patriarch is vanquished, and 

 the youthful victor, full of vigour and virility, 

 is, in turn, the paramour of the herd. Now, if 

 we admit the influence of the male animal to 

 be the greatest, we have here the most perfect 

 adaptation for the weeding of the herd, and the 

 best constitutioned bull is tho parent of the 

 whole race for two or three years of production. 

 It is not wonderful, then, that they have no 

 points, no superiority, no distinctiveness of 

 breeding. There is no selection of adaptation, 

 of symmetry — even of semblance ; but there is 

 strength of constitution in the male — tlie 

 quality, above all others, best calculated for 

 securing strength of constitution, hardness, and 

 size in the oftspring. Assuming that this 

 tyrant strength in the patriarch of the herd 

 will continue for three successive years — a feat 

 extremely probable — there is a degree of con- 

 sanguinity which few breeders will attempt. It 

 may be said of Mr. Bates' herd, now that he is 



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