108 BREEDING AND REARING 



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success of this practice (i. e. the in-and-in) ; but, on speak- 

 " ing to that gentleman upon the subject, I found that he did 

 '' not attach the meaning that I do to the term in-and-in. 

 " He said, that he frequently bred from the father and the 

 '' daughter, and the mother and the son. This is not what 

 " I consider as breeding in-and-in ; for the daughter is only 

 half of the same blood as the father, and will probably 

 partake, in a great degree, of the properties of the mother." 

 This gentleman, also, in another part of his letter, states 

 some important facts on the matter in these words :^ — " 1 have 

 " tried many experiments by breeding in-and-in upon dogs, 

 " fowls, and pigeons: the dogs became, from strong spaniels, 

 " weak and diminutive lap-dogs ; the fowls became long in 

 " the legs, small in the body, and bad breeders." 



The author of A Treatise on Greyhounds is also, in some 

 degree, unfavourable to breeding a-kin. He says, *' If con- 

 " tinned for some litters, a manifest inferiority of size, and a 

 '' deficiency of bone, will soon be visible, as well as a want 

 " of courage and bottom ; though the beauty of the form, 

 " with the exception of the size, may not be diminished." 



BuFFON argues on the same side : — " Ce qu'il y a de singu- 

 " lier, c'est qu'il semble que le modele du beau et du bon soit 

 " disperse par toute la terre, et que dans chaque ciimat il 

 " n'en reside qu'une portion qui degenere toujours, a moins 

 qu'on ne la r^unisse avec une autre portion prise au loin ; en 

 sort que pour avoir de bon grain, de belles fleurs, &c. &c. 

 il faut en 6nchanger les grains et de ne jamais semer dans 

 " le meme terrein qui les a produits ; et de meme, pour avoir 

 " de beaux chevaux, de bons chiens, &c. &c. il faut donner 

 " aux femelles du pays des males etrangers, et reciproquement 

 •* aux males du pays des femelles etrangeres : sans cela les 

 '' grains, les fleurs, les animaux deg^nerent, ou plutot pren- 

 " nent une si fort teinture du ciimat, que la matiere domine 

 sur la forme, et semble Tabatardir, I'empreinte reste, mais 

 defiguree par tons les traits, qui ne lui sont pas essentiels. 

 *' En melant au contraire les races, etsurtout en les renouve- 

 " lant toujours par ies races etrangeres, la forme semble se 





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