BREEDING AND REARING 



sion of parental character is not always equal : it sometimes 

 happens that the more notable characteristics of form, size, 

 and qualities, are principally derived from the male parent*. 

 In others a strong^er similitude to the mother is apparent, and 

 it now and then happens that these partialities seem to be 

 confined to a part of the prog-eny only, or is divided between 

 the parents. This is sometimes observed when a breed is 

 made between a pointer and setter, in which case it has not 



formed, that the male parent, in the procreative act, imparts nothing beyond 

 the mere stimulus of life to the ovum or germ of the female ; for it must be 

 evident that the germ in the mare is naturally of the horse species ; and did 

 such germ merely receive the vivifying principle by the sexual intercourse, 

 it would be indifferent to the future produce whether the father were a horse 



or an ass. 



* Some physiologists (and among them Sir E. Home) have supposed that 

 the ovum or germ, previous to impregnation, is of no sex, but is so formed 

 as to be equally fitted to become a male or female foetus, and that it is the 

 process of impregnation that marks the sex, and produces both male and 

 female generative organs. However this opinion may seem to be supported 

 by facts, and although instances do occur that give reason to suppose that the 

 male parent has considerable influence in determining the sex, yet an equal 

 number of cases arise that prove the female to be equally concerned in this 

 matter. It is true that some dogs, some stallions, and some bulls, are re- 

 marked for begetting a greater number of males than females ; while others 

 are the parents of more females than males. In the P/dl. Trans, 1787, 

 p. 344, 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 Ire- 

 land. But it is, at the same time, equally notorious, that some bitches, let 

 them breed by what dog they will, yet still have a plurality of one sex. The 

 same occurs, in a much greater degree, among other domestic animals, Mr, 

 Knight remarks on the equal aptitude in the female in determining the sex : 

 *' In several species of domesticated animals (I believe in all), particular 

 " females are found to produce a majority of their 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 with confidence upon a large majority 

 ** of females from one part, of males from another, and upon nearly an equal 

 *' number of males and females from the remainder. I frequently endea- 

 " voured to change the habits by changing the male, but without success."— 

 Phil. Trans. 1809, p. 397. In King's Langley church are the effigies of 

 seven successive daughters born to a man by his first wife, and of seven sons 

 Isorn to him by a. second wife, in succession. 



