286 DISEASES OF ANIMALS. 



horned white ox, with some black spots, while she was 

 in season, before taken to the bull. Neither the -cow, 

 bull, nor any of the herd, had horns or any white on 

 them ; yet the calf had horns, and was black and white. 

 Within a few years, in Maine, an animal showed distinct 

 qualities of a bull that was in the herd forty years be- 

 fore, which properties had not been apparent for a num- 

 ber of generations previous to their late exhibition. 



Breeding " in and inj'^ and Close Breeding. The former 

 term implies breeding from precisely the same race, or 

 blood ; and although this course is absolutely necessary, 

 in some cases, to propagate a race in its purity, and may 

 succeed very well for a few generations, yet it should 

 not be carried far, as it will eventually tend to weakness 

 of constitution and degeneracy. Breeding between a 

 parent and its offspring, though Close Breeding, and ob- 

 jectionable, IS better than to breed between animals from 

 the same parents, especially if the parents were of differ- 

 ent races ; for, in the first case, the two animals are only 

 half of the same blood ; but, in the second, they are of 

 the same blood. A connection of those animals that are 

 allied to each other should generally be avoided. In 

 breeding from the same race, it is better to extend the 

 stock into different families, that there may be a wider 

 range for selection. 



Crossing. By jadicious crossing between animals of 

 different breeds, the greatest improvements are made. 

 In this case, the two races should not be widely differ- 

 ent. If the two breeds are of different sizes, the male 

 should be selected from the small race, and the female 

 from the large breed. The reason for this is obvious; 

 for then the dam will have sufficient capacity for her 

 young; it will not, nor herself, be endangered at its 

 birth, and she will have a supply of nourishment for it. 

 But if it be of a larger breed, the progeny might be 

 limited, endangered, stinted, and wanting in symmetry 

 and form. 



Superior Influence of Blood Stock. If one of the parents 

 is blood stock, or a fixed breed, and the other is not, the 

 blood stock will generally prevail. This is very evident 

 as the animal of blood stock has its qualities permanently 



