too BREEDING AND REARING 



succeeding" generations* is sufficient to destroy all appear* 

 ances of variation from the orig"inal ; but in breeds which 

 have undergone great cultivation, it requires a much longer 

 time wholly to degenerate them. The tendency is, however, 

 inherent in all our domestic animals, and in none more than 

 the dog ; and it is to counteract this inherent property that 

 forms a principal part of the art of successful breeding, as it 

 is termed in the language of rural economy. 



Notorious varieties or breeds are, therefore, the conse- 

 quence of our attempts at the improvement of such races of 

 dogs, or of any other domestic animals, as exhibit a constitu- 

 tional tendency to a particular form or character, the proper- 

 ties of which are either known or expected to prove useful. 

 Or they originate in the adoption of any accidental variety 

 that may spring up in the way lately described. Or a breed 

 may be established by any determinate form or quality, with- 

 in certain limits, being previously fixed on ; after this in- 

 dividuals are selected, perhaps not exactly similar, but each 

 of which having distinct points of resemblance to the desired 

 form, conjointly, the full end may be gained in their own 

 union and that of their affinities. In this way the most sur- 

 prising alterations in the animal character have been, and 

 still may be, brought about; and forms almost ideal have 

 been, and still may be, realized t. A breed or variety being 



* Lord Orford bred between a bull dog and a greyhound : in seven de- 

 scents all traces of the cross were lost in form ; but he conjectured that he 

 had gained an acquisition of courage and determination. Probably an acci- 

 dental deformity might have disappeared sooner. 



\ Among the experienced fanciers of the small yellow and white spaniels, 

 which much resemble those known by the name of the iV/ar/6oroMOfA breed, 

 this is particularly exemplified. These elegant animals are very common 

 among the Spitalfidds weavers ; and to such a perfection have they brought 

 the art of breeding them, that it is affirmed they can insure, almost to a 

 certainty, the requisite quantity of colour, the length of coat, its texture, 

 and its disposition to curl or to remain straight. 



The Herefordshire ox can be bred to a white or a half white face j and the 

 horns of some breeds can be insured to an inch. The colour of the game 

 cock is arbitrarily imposed by the handler and feeder j and the experienced 

 pigeon-fancier can breed to a feather. 



