SECRETARY'S REPORT. 131 



fore, always take* these two elements into consideration in the 

 propagation of animals, — tlic qualities of the two sexes. 



Now, individual animals, again, have some very important 

 share in this. If I look at this assembly, I see no two indi- 

 viduals alike, and if I go out of doors, the same impression 

 continues. I see no two men nor two women alike ; and if I 

 go. to the farm, I see no two heads of cattle alike. Besides 

 these common features which go to make up humanity, or 

 which go to make up the cow world, the horse world, the 

 donkey world, the sheep world, the pig world — besides these 

 common features, there is individuality noticeable everywhere, 

 and that individuality is marked. Every shepherd knows how 

 to distinguish every individual of the flock he owns. 



Now, this individuality is not altogether transmissible, as the 

 general properties which go to make up the whole race are ; only 

 a part of these peculiarities of the individual being are trans- 

 mitted, generation after generation ; for you will notice that the 

 children of one family are not all like the father, nor are they 

 all like the mother, nor are they all even a mixture of the two. 

 And what is true of man is true of animals. Everv individual 

 born from the same parents may differ from both parents, or 

 may have a certain degree of resemblance to both parents. 

 Let us, therefore, not forget this second law of reproduction, 

 which consists in a partial transmission of individual character- 

 istics, while there is a total transmission of those general 

 features which go to make up the kind of animal. We never 

 expect to have a horse born from a cow — we expect a calf, 

 a young cow or a young bull ; and we expect that, within a 

 certain limit, that calf will share the properties of either the 

 mother or the father, but we know tliat it will not do this fully. 

 Now, what can we do to ascertain what we shall get ? — for it is 

 on the assumption that, having a male of certain qualities and 

 a female of certain qualities, we can get the best animal out of 

 the two, that we proceed in introducing a certain distinct 

 animal into a herd, with the expectation of improving the 

 progeny of that herd. We may make tremendous mistakes 

 in so doing, and I want to point out the basis of these mis- 

 takes, because they are the foundation of all our disappoint- 

 ments. I am not prepared to tell you how to remedy all these 

 disappointments, but I will point out their sources that you 



