'THE INFIRMITY' 341 



Mr. Robert Holmes, of the King's County, and Mr. Watts, 

 sent mares to him, with the result of breeding Bran, 

 Thump, Famine, Rush, and Ennui, and none of these were 

 affected in their wind, nor were their progeny, of whom I 

 had several myself, including Red Vixen, a daughter of 

 Harkaway out of Ennui, who won the Royal Whip and 

 several other races. We have here a case in which 

 " roaring " was decidedly not hereditary.' 



MR. J. F. NISBET ON HEREDITY AND ROARING 



In reply to a request for a brief statement of his views 

 on this subject, the author of ■ Marriage and Heredity,' 

 * The Insanity of Genius,' &c, has been good enough to 

 write as follows : 



1 My dear Byron Webber, — You ask me my opinion as 

 to " roaring " in horses from the heredity point of view, 

 As you are aware, the scientific world is much perplexed 

 to know whether acquired characteristics, of which roaring 

 is generally considered one, can be transmitted or not, 

 the leaders of the battle being Weismann and Herbert 

 Spencer. The controversy is one of the utmost importance, 

 and the fact that it should be raised at the present day for 

 the first time is a curious exemplification of the laxity of 

 human reasoning. Heredity has been recognised from the 

 earliest ages — and, indeed, it could not fail to be, con- 

 sidering that children are so often born in the likeness of 

 their parents ; and it has been assumed on what appears to 

 be insufficient grounds that many characteristics acquired 

 by the parents in their lifetime — that is to say, not born 

 with them — are transmitted with the usual congenital 

 features. Suppose a man lives for years in a hot climate 

 and becomes deeply sunburnt ! Are children subsequently 

 born to him likely to be darker in complexion than they 

 otherwise would have been ? Suppose he splits his nail by 

 accident, and years afterwards a son is born to him with a 

 deformed thumb-nail. Is this an example of cause and 

 effect ? 



1 It might have been supposed that the experience of 

 the human race would have settled such questions long 

 ago ; and yet Weismann's challenge to the scientific world 

 to produce proofs of the transmissibility of acquired 



