DUROC BLOOD TRAITS. 431 



sound. She produced a filly by a grandson of Roe's Abdallah Chief, 

 a horse that was himself a marvel of health and soundness, and never 

 produced an unsound foal to my knowledge except in this instance. 

 This filly, at three years old, gradually, and without any apparent 

 strain or injury, developed lame and unsound hocks, and eventually 

 curbs. Roe's Abdallah Chief had two Duroc and one Henry cross, 

 and the slio-ht reinforcement found in the Searcher mare brouo-ht out 

 the latent current of unsound blood. Another: a mare by Post Boy, 

 son of Henry, was bred to Blackbird, whose dam was by the same 

 Post Boy. A spavined hock came out of the union, and in turn she 

 transmitted this to her produce. Breeders of great intelligence, and 

 having high appreciation of the blood of Eclijise, found by disastrous 

 experience that this blood could not safely be vmited with that of 

 Mambrino Chief, or his sons Idol and Alhambra, whose dams were 

 by Eclipse, and that the produce of these two stallions could not 

 safely be in-bred together. It was often tried, but almost uniformly 

 with evil results. The union of remote strains was often effected 

 with success, as in the case of Mambrino Eclipse, whose dam was 

 by Zenith, a son of Eclipse, and Mambrino Patchen, dam by 

 Gano, son of Eclipse. These last two stallions bred very sound 

 stock, not in any respect noted for the defects above referred 

 to. And it by no means follows that the produce of Mambrino 

 Chief and an Eclipse mare would be vinsound, or that such a stallion 

 would necessarily breed unsound stock. Such would, beyond doubt, 

 be the tendency, and it would certainly manifest itself if such a stal- 

 lion was again crossed upon mares having similar elements of 

 unsoundness. Idol is a very sound, and a very valuable stallion, and 

 Lis produce are, in the main, quite sound and strong, and Alhambra 

 has produced some animals that are very sviperior, and entirely free 

 from defect. Many instances have occurred within my own observa- 

 tion, showing the utter worthlessness of the produce of two animals 

 of this blood, each in themselves apparently quite sound, and noted 

 as superior breeders. 



Such was Duroc blood, and such are the blood characteristics, in 

 less degree but in unmistakable form, of the Mambrino Chief family. 

 These blood traits did not come from Mambrino or any other son or 

 daughter of Messenger. Such ti-aits, running through a family with 

 such all-prevailing genei'ality, constitute one of the most reliable evi- 

 dences of consanguinity, and, taken in connection with the proofs 

 already exhibited, render the case perfectly convincing that the dam 



of Mambrino Chief was a mare of Duroc and Messenger blood. 



38 



