INFLUENCE OF THE SIRE AND DAM. 105 



mal living particles, many of wliicli may remain quiescent and 

 inactive daring one or two generations but be roused into ac- 

 tivity and reproduce tiiemselves in the third, or whether all the 

 living germinal matter of germ and body is tainted with this 

 hereditary malady, it boots little to inquire. That the germs 

 contain it we know, and that it will reappear in the product of 

 these germs or in his descendants we equally know. Knowing 

 this we can safely strike at the root of the tree and prevent the 

 development of the evil fruit. 



RESPECTIVE INFLUENCE OF SIRE AND DAM ON THE PROGENY. 



While all agree that both parents impress their respective 

 characters on the progeny, much discussion has arisen with re- 

 gard to the relative influence of the male and female on the 

 young organism, and what parts and properties each most 

 powerfully controlled. Whether the male wields the most po- 

 tent influence, as the common practice of breeding from other- 

 wise useless females might imply, may well be questioned. We 

 have already seen that that parent, of either sex, which has the 

 strongest constitution, enjoys the more vigorous health, and be- 

 longs to a breed whose characters are more permanently fixed, 

 will exercise more influence over the progeny than the parent 

 in which these characters are deficient or wanting. And the 

 customary attention given to the selection of a sire usually 

 secures these. But eliminate these and we shall see among our 

 domestic animals, as we now see among the families of our 

 friends, tliat the male parent must share pretty equally with the 

 female one the credit of the family. The Arabs indeed, no mean 

 judges if experience and success aflbrd any criterion, esteem 

 the qualities of the mare as much more important than those of 

 the horse. Thoroughbred Arabian stallions are common, but 

 whoever persuaded an Arab to sell his favorite mare ? If we 

 can obtain tolerable animals by selecting as one of the parents 

 an animal of good quality and pedigree, how mucli better must 

 they be if both are of this stamp. 



As regards the parts whose formation is controlled by the dif- 

 ferent parents, the most generally received doctrine is that the 

 male has the most potent influence on color, skin, hair, head, 

 ears, neck and locomotive system generally, while the female 



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