184 THE HORSE 



It will be seen that one -thirty -second of the inheri- 

 tance is unaccounted for in the above. This is found in 

 the generations beyond the fifth. It is evident that there 

 were thirty -two ancestors in the fifth generation, and 

 that the animal in the first generation gets but one- 

 thirty- second of its inheritance from all of them. The 

 animal under consideration has sixty-two ancestors in the 

 fifth generation. It might easily transpire that some 

 one of these was eminently prepotent, and if not very 

 remote would probably transmit far more than its math- 

 ematical proportion of its inheritance. Let it now 

 be supposed that in -breeding has taken place, that the 

 prepotent blood of the superior ancestors has been 

 freely used in the process, and that such prepotent inbred 

 blood comes down through the sire; then the offspring 

 would inherit far more than one -fourth of its character- 

 istics from the sire, and less than one -fourth from the 

 dam. Or, suppose a prepotent animal appears in the 

 second generation, the offspring might receive nearly 

 all of its inheritance from this single animal. It is 

 evident to every practical stock-breeder that the 

 mathematical theory does not hold true. 



Inheritance is modified from generation to generation 

 by change of food, climate, environment and use, or 

 habit. In rare cases it may be so strong that the 

 dominant characteristics persist long in spite of radical 

 changes in food and surroundings. 



Characteristics which have been long present are 

 more likely to be transmitted than those which have 

 been but recently acquired. Characteristics which are 

 similar are more likely to coalesce harmoniously than 



