36 THE STOCK owner's ADVISER. 



qiient fecundation." Darwin, in the vegetable kingdom, shows 

 the' "direct action of the male element on the mother form," and 

 comes to the conclusion that the male element not only affects, 

 in accordance with its proper function, the germ, but the sur- 

 rounding tissues of the mother plant. 



HORSES AND THEIR QUALITIES. 



First of all, the sire should have a sound organization, free 

 from hereditary ailment. There is no better established fact 

 than that all progeny, vegetable or animal, takes its physical, 

 mental and moral qualities from those which predominate in the 

 sire and dam during the period of conception and gestation. The 

 form, temper, disposition, and constitution are stamped at these 

 periods on the offspring. It is well known that all the secretions 

 partake of both the general and particular states of body and 

 mind. It is by closely observing this law of animated nature 

 that we preserve the health and improve the breed of animals. 

 Those who wish beautiful and sound animals will see to it that 

 the sire and dam are in their best bodily condition when pro- 

 creating. A perfectly symmetrical body implies an equal and 

 balanced contribution from every organ and structure, and to 

 secure this result the animal should be free from all local con- 

 gestions or irritations. The stomach should not be loaded, the 

 liver should not be obstructed, the lungs should not be congested, 

 and the skin shoidd not be clogged. In short, there should be 

 the normal play of all the functions. The wild horses of the 

 plains do not suffer with hereditary diseases. Xone of them are 

 malformed, and no epidemic, not even endemic disease, prevails, 

 showing that they die the natural death of healthy and sound 

 animals. Could we learn the cause of this exemption, nothing in 

 the history of the horse could be of more interest or benefit. A 

 horse's limbs should not be too long, but trim and clean, and his 

 joints round and well set. He should have considerable space 

 between the eyes, nose not dished, and the Roman nose is not 

 desirable. Mouth of medium size, but not too shallow. The side 



