CATTLE-BREEDING.] CATTLE, AND THEIE YAEIETIES. [CATTLE-BREEDI^ra. 



own breed. She threw puppies, one of which 

 was slender and spaniel-like, and perfectly 

 white; and, in two subsequent litters, she 

 always produced one white puppy, though it 

 might be less slender than the first. It is 

 possible, however, that she might, at some 

 period, have had unobserved intercourse with 

 the spaniel ; and if so, as a matter of course, 

 the principle would be precisely similar to 

 that which is involved in the preceding in- 

 stances ; but we have a case ia which this 

 was utterly impossible. A mare and a gelding 

 had long been companions in the team, in the 

 pasture, and in the stable. He was black, 

 with white legs and face, and possessed of a 

 singular rectangular form of hind legs. After 

 an association of about two years, the mare 

 was covered by a bay stallion, with black legs, 

 which was the colour of her own. The foal 

 exactly resembled the gelding, both in colour 

 and shape, especially in the hind legs. Here 

 connection was impossible. — We have already 

 alluded to the effect of the imagination of the 

 mother greatly influencing the colour and 

 form of her offspring; and the following fact 

 would seem to prove it. Mr. Boswell tells us 

 of a hornless cow coming in season, when one 

 of his neighbour's horned black-and-white 

 oxen broke over the fence, and accompanied 

 her home to the bull. Both the sire and the 

 dam were black and hornless, nor had the 

 farmer any horned or spotted beast on his 

 farm. The produce of the cow was black and 

 white; and, in due time, its horns grew, re- 

 sembling those of the ox. These facts may 

 not, in themselves, prove much ; but they raise 

 a doubt as to whether the imagination of the 

 mother may not, in some indescribable way or 

 other, operate upon the offspring. 



Another point in connection with this sub- 

 ject is, the respective influence of the parents 

 in determining the sex of the offspring. This 

 part of our subject is necessarily involved in 

 no small degree of mystery. Nature seems to 

 have decided that the sexes should be pretty 

 evenly balanced ; but the causes which lead to 

 this decision she has refused to develop .to 

 mankind. There is a great difference of 

 opinion among physiologists as to whether the 

 male or the female, the sire or the mother, has 

 the greater influence in determining the sex. 

 Sir Everard Home thought that the ovum or ! 

 6-38 



germ, previous to impregnation, is of no sex, 

 but is so formed as to be equally fitted to 

 become male or female; and that it is the 

 process of impregnation which marks the sex, 

 and forms either male or female generative 

 organs ; that, previous to the fourth mouth, 

 the sex cannot be said to be confirmed, but 

 that the parts, before that period, are so 

 blended, that either the one or the other may 

 be formed therefrom, as the tendency towards 

 the paternal or maternal type may preponde- 

 rate. This would account for the disposition 

 which some animals have to beget a greater 

 number of one sex or the other. Mr. Knight, 

 a distinguished naturalist, inclined to the 

 opinion that the female is principally con- 

 cerned in the development of the sex. " In 

 several species of domesticated animals," he 

 says, " particular females are found to pro- 

 duce a majority of offspring of the same sex ; 

 and I have proved repeatedly, that by dividing 

 a herd of thirty cows into three equal parts, 

 I could calculate on a large majority of 

 females from one part, males from another, 

 and females from the remainder. I frequently 

 endeavoured to change the habits by changing 

 the male, but without success." In the Fhilo- 

 sopJiical Transactions, mention is made of a 

 gentleman who was the youngest of forty sons, 

 all produced in succession, from three different 

 wives, by one father, in Ireland. One in- 

 stance is also recorded of seven successive 

 daughters being born to a man by his first 

 wife, and of seven sons by his second wife. 

 As, in this matter, both statements and 

 opinions contradict each other, the only con- 

 clusion to be drawn is, that both the male and 

 the female possess a certain degree of in- 

 fluence in determining the sex — sometimes 

 the one operating one way, and sometimes 

 the other. Some degree of weiglit, however, 

 is to be attached to the opinion, that where 

 the male is older than the female, the majority 

 of the offspring is likely to be males. 



The rapidly-growing population of this 

 country has long demanded a correspondingly 

 extended supply of animal food, which has 

 been furnished, not by the greater productive- 

 ness of the grazing districts, but by the growth 

 of roots on arable farms ; so that, in fact, a 

 f-reatcr annual weight of meat is produced by 

 the latter than the former. AVhilat a larger 



