44 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING. 



of heredity has once been enlisted in the trans- 

 mission of an accidental variation, it lends its 

 powerful aid in favor of the perpetuation of the 

 improved form. Spontaneity may occasionally 

 interpose a new feature, or atavism turn us back 

 toward the original; but by continuing to select 

 from the families which have been bred with 

 reference to the desired form we shall eventu- 

 ally succeed in fixing the new type so firmly 

 that its transmission will be the rule and fail- 

 ure the exception; and ichen this point has been 

 reached we have succeeded in forming what may 

 justly be called a breed. 



IN-BREEDING AND CROSSING. 



It has been claimed by many that success in 

 establishing desired forms or qualities may be 

 obtained with the greatest certainty, and in the 

 least possible time, when selection is confined 

 to the same family. Thus, we find a certain 

 male that manifests an unusual degree of excel- 

 lence in some particular, and which, it has been 

 found, he usually transmits to his offspring. 

 We select a female manifesting the same ten- 

 dency, and the two are coupled. Possibly the 

 offspring may not show a trace of the unusual 

 excellence we have sought to perpetuate. We 

 reject this, and couple the same sire and dam 

 a second time, and perhaps we are rewarded by 

 offspring possessing the desired quality. This 



